


The Last Christmas

by Littlegreenbirdy



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: #Carrieonforever, All the pretty horses - Freeform, Anakin loses his head, And a wild sex scene appears, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety about Miscarriage, Armitage and Tallie did I invent a ship?, Ben is a grinch (not really he doesn’t have green fur), Ben makes bathtime so much fun, Ben’s a coffee snob, Ben’s a secret cinnamon roll, Ben’s heaving bosoms, COMPLETELY DONE ✅, Christmas AU, Christmas Fluff, Christmas tree farm, Colliderofhadron’s hubbies description of Doph’s eyebrows which I adore, Cowgirl Position, Cozy murder mystery, Defenestration, Dementia, Domestic Fluff, Dominant Ben Solo, F/F, F/M, Gun Violence, Han and Luke are deceased, Handcuffs, Hux keeps his socks on during sex it’s canon., Hypothermia, I hope I’m funny, Kidnapping, Lotus Position, M/M, Mantrums, Many skinny peppermint lattes where harmed in the writing of this pile of trash, Mentions of child exploitation, Mentions of poisoning, Modern AU, Murder, Pregnancy, Private Investigator Rey, References to my favourite Christmas movies, Sheriff Ben Solo, Siege Situation, Slow burn as in crockpot slow, Snarky Banter, Snoke has no idea about how to motivate his employees, Somebody feed Rey, Tea and Sympathy, The Christmas market of my dreams, The cockblocking will stop one day I promise, The fluff is coming I promise, The smut has landed!, This cozy mystery got a lot less cozy, This is not a drill people!, Yes I do think Fargo is a Christmas movie, being held captive, food glorious food, foot rubs and sarcasm, mentions of drug use, no con drug use, oscillating frantically like two miniature wigs being blown about in a gale, previous sexual assault, vitriol attack, ‘Two small patches of hair above the eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-08-14 00:46:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 69,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16482890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlegreenbirdy/pseuds/Littlegreenbirdy
Summary: Sheriff Ben Solo, coffee snob and Yuletide grinch. Desperately needs one of Rose Tico’s rocket fuel Americanos to make it through his morning and is not prepared for the early morning roasting he gets from a pretty English woman.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll be adding more tags as we go but I mention things like a previous sexual assault, abuse, physical assault and toxic behaviour in this story. I didn’t want any one to get into the story and then have to stop because a something I’ve written is triggering. Its not going to be a dark fic but there’s some darker themes here. 
> 
> Mostly it’s fluffy Christmas sweetness, I hope you enjoy reading it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sheriff Ben Solo, coffee snob and Yuletide grinch. Desperately needs one of Rose Tico’s rocket fuel Americanos to make it through his morning with tasering someone and is not prepared for the early morning roasting he gets from a pretty English woman.

Once upon a time in Colorado...

George Michael warbled out of the speakers of the Estoria Sheriff Department’s patrol car, ‘Last Christmas I gave you my heart, the very next day...’. The cranky sheriff growled and stabbed at his radio with a finger.

“For fucks sake, Gwen! It’s only the first fucking day of December.” Ben Solo groaned. 

Not that there was anyone to hear him in the vehicle. Indeed, Gwen wouldn’t - she was in her booth at the radio station, probably laughing her ass off over a mug of Earl Grey tea. If he was going to make it through this morning without tasering someone, he was going to need coffee. 

He steered the dodge down his twisting driveway and pulled onto the highway. Ben lived in his childhood home, about ten minutes out of town. Far enough to offer privacy but close enough should he be needed. After his dad’s death two years ago, his mother had thrown herself completely into her work and it honestly hadn’t made a huge difference to anybody’s daily routine.

Leia Organa-Solo had never been the chocolate brownie-baking PTA type mom. She couldn’t have handled a small life in a sleepy town - politics, and the desire for the betterment of society was ingrained in her by her adoptive parents. Asking her to live full time in Estoria was like asking a tiger to live as a house cat. 

Han, his father, had been forced to change from being a somewhat shady cargo pilot who lived like a gypsy, into a stay-at-home dad. Not that he had ever resented his son for his enforced domestication but as Ben grew older, he could sense his father’s lingering desire for adventure and freedom.

Leia preferred to live in Denver these days. Closer to her charity, ‘Resistance’, a legal aid education program and soup kitchen, that was a thousand times more her baby than Ben had ever been. 

So, Ben had moved back into the family home. It was almost the same as it had been when they, well - mostly he and Han, had lived there, with the same worn-in leather couch that still held the faint scent of bourbon, spilled from sleepy tumblers by his dad on long nights sitting up waiting for his wife and then later, son, to come home. 

His heart attack had been massive: he’d dropped dead while chopping wood. Ben was aware of his father’s heart condition so he’d told the stubborn old coot, he’d told Han he’d be over to help him that afternoon. Ben had found him when his phone calls had repeatedly gone unanswered. The unanswerable question of why Han couldn’t have just fucking waited still pissed Ben off.

He turned the radio back on. Gwen had chosen some annoying pop song where a woman bleated about ‘just keep moving’ and ‘figure it out’ as he drove past the radio station booth with its window onto the street. He could see that Gwen’s headphones were making her short blonde crop of hair stick up in a weird cowlick and she was wearing her ugly blue and red snowman sweater. He loved her like a sister, but every year from the start of October until New Year she went nuts. 

“Oh, isn’t that sweet, listeners! I just got a friendly wave from Sheriff Solo. Watch out, Rose - he’s headed your way!” Gwen’s cool British accent trilled from the radio. Ben had waved, he just hadn’t used his whole hand. 

After finding a place to park, he stalked towards the diner, the ‘Nickel and Diner’. Finn and Rose Tico, a married couple from San Diego, had taken over the place from Henry and Gertie Meier a little over a year ago. 

They’d poured all their money and every dollar they could convince the bank to loan them into the business. Thanks to Finn and Rose’s delicious cooking and easy charm, they turned a run-down cafe into a flourishing business. With chic blue, black, and chrome refurbishment Nickel wouldn’t have looked out of place in New York or Chicago.

Rose, a diminutive Vietnamese-American woman in her late twenties, was holding court behind the long polished counter, fixing the lid on one of the black and silver travel cups Ben always left there for his daily coffee. 

“Hey Ben!” Rose called across to him as he knocked the slush off his boots at the door. “An extra tall strong Americano, three sugars and hotter than the doorknob of hell.” She placed the cup on the counter and turned to face a tall brunette dressed in a hooded red coat, with legs in tight black pants that went all the way up to her neck. “Basically its him as coffee,” she joked as she nodded towards him, her cherubic face alight with mischief. This couldn’t end well. 

“Sheriff Solo, this is Rey Jakku. Stop being a grump and come say hi,” she chided. Rose might’ve been five-two but her attitude was six-four. Was everyone he knew going to piss him off today? 

“Go easy, Rose. It was a late night,” he replied, gratefully accepting his caffeinated lifeline. He’d been out at the scene of an accident at the interstate until two, but at least it hadn’t been a fatality. His normally deep voice was roughed up by lack of sleep and shouting, in order to be heard over the passing traffic and wind. 

The mystery brunette was in her early twenties and stunningly pretty – clear, lightly tanned skin with a dusting of freckles over a pixieish face, dominated by wide hazel eyes, her pink lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach those forest glen-coloured eyes. They burned bright and savage. She was looking at him as though he was a monster. What the fuck? His scar wasn’t that bad, Ben cleared his throat. 

“Hi.” He said tetchily as he extended his hand for a shake. “Ben Solo.” She deigned to slip her hand into his after a moment of deliberation, keeping her gloves on and clasping it only for a few seconds as if she didn’t want to risk catching some contagious skin disease from him. Who the hell had pissed on this girl’s wheaties? 

“Rey Jakku.” She greeted crisply.

Ben’s ear had grown used to Gwen, Hux and Finn’s accents, and he picked hers up immediately.

“British? You’re a long way from home, Ms Jakku.” At this, she cocked her head to the side in a bird-like gesture and gave him a thin edged smile.

“I’m not as far from home as you might think, Mr Solo.” She said coldly. 

Ben could see Rose’s bright brown eyes swivelling between them as though watching a tennis match, jaw hanging freely and drawing the attention of other people in the diner. 

“Have I done something to upset you, Ms Jakku?” He asked lightly, trying not to let the hard edge creep into his voice. But he was tired and he hadn’t had his coffee yet. 

“Not to me, no,” she gritted acidly, full-on glaring at him. 

Whatever her problem was, Ben was past give-a-shit. He took twenty five dollars out of his wallet and handed it to Rose, forcing an insincere grin onto his face. 

“Rose that’s for my tab for this week. You all have a nice day.” He nodded and left the restaurant, electing to ignore this looney toons woman with an axe to grind. He had a coffee rapidly cooling, a shit-ton of paperwork to deal with and it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet - he was all out of fucks to give. He stepped out into the cold air toward his patrol car. 

“Hey...hey!” A feminine English voice called out. Dear lord, what was this woman’s problem? He turned to stare the irate woman down, she glared right back at him. 

“You’re going to pay for what you did.” She spat, thankfully not literally. 

He lifted his dark eyebrows. “Excuse me?” He asked, astonished. 

With her face flushed and teeth bared she lit into him. She was hardly the most intimidating person he’d had to deal with throughout his ten years in law enforcement. He just had to maintain a calm professional manner and let her vent.

“And what is it I’m supposed to have done?” He asked dryly.

“You’re going to stand there and pretend you weren’t up to your neck in Alistair Snoke’s corrupt department?” She hissed accusingly. 

“If you’re a reporter, Ms Jakku, you’re not very good at your job. I was cleared of any wrongdoing.” He informed her gravely. 

“I’m a private investigator and I am going to find out how your father and uncle died not long after you returned home.” She growled at him. 

He glared down at her, all semblance of professionalism dropping like a stone, the grieving son and nephew now bleeding through. 

“Listen sweetheart, my dad drank like a fish and ate deep fried food at least five times a week. Unsurprisingly he had a massive coronary. Uncle Luke was bat shit crazy so his brain wasn’t exactly in tip-top condition to begin with, and he had a stroke. Perfectly normal deaths for men of their ages. So, unless you have something more concrete than I happened to live in town when dad died, and I was nowhere near the Pacific Northwest, let alone the god-forsaken rock the old deadbeat was living under. If you have information that says otherwise, I’m sure the state police would love to hear about it.”

He watched with no small measure of satisfaction as she clenched her jaw tensely. 

“Didn’t think so.” He said contemptuously, getting into his car closing the door with a slam. 

The fucking nerve of the woman! He clenched the steering wheel with a white-knuckle grip, trying to control the heady impulse to break something, any goddamn thing. He gritted his teeth and tried to focus on calmly driving to work and not getting out of the car to smash shit like a humongous toddler. 

His stupid phone started ringing.

“Solo!” He barked in answer.

“What was that about?” Gwen. Fuck did anything get past the woman? 

“What?” Feigning ignorance might work, he thought as he dragged his teeth across his bottom lip. 

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Benjamin Solo. I only have three minutes left. Why were you having an argument with a strange woman in the middle of Main Street?” 

“You don’t have me on speaker do you?” 

Gwen snorted. 

“Ben, I’ve never put you on speaker. You are not a person anyone should put on speaker, ever.” She said dryly.

“Fair point,” he conceded. “She’s a fucking PI, Gwen. She was talking about Snoke, Dad and Luke.” He ran his hand through his thick hair. 

“Shit! Look, I’m running out of time. I’ll come by your place after work OK? Don’t worry. We’ll sort this shit out.” She told him sternly. 

“Okay,” he replied, hating how shook-up he sounded. 

“Ben, it will be okay.” Gwen comforted. “Got to go.” She said abruptly, and hung up.

Fuck, was this shit with Snoke ever going to stay in the past? He only just noticed a traffic light turn red and braked suddenly, his forgotten coffee instantly sloshing down his wind shield.

Any resident lip readers would have been clutching their proverbial pearls at the language pouring out of Ben Solo, but even the casual observer couldn’t miss the way his endearingly prominent ears reddened and his normally full lips pulled back to reveal his rather pointed canine teeth. 

It certainly wasn’t lost on his dispatcher/office manager, Doph Mitaka, as he hung a silvery snowflake ornament on the office Christmas tree. He’d looked out the window as he heard his boss pull into his parking space, taking in the frozen coffee slush on the wind shield, and he’d leant over to pick up his phone.

“Hey Rose, its Doph. Could you make up another coffee for Ben and throw in one of those cherry danishes he likes too, okay?...... Thanks, I’ll pick it up. Thank you. Bye.” 

His boss stormed into the office, reefing his beanie and coat off, and Doph hurriedly put the phone down. He poured black coffee from the pot into the only clean mug left, one shaped like Santa - this could be touch-and-go, he thought as he dumped two sugars in. Ben’s scowl deepened at the proffered cup.

“Swill.” He growled. 

“But caffeinated swill.” Mitaka reasoned. “I’ll go get you another one from Rose. This is so you don’t mace anyone while I’m gone. I’ll get you a danish too, big guy.” 

“I’m not a child, Doph.” Ben snarled, taking the cup.

“You kinda are, Ben,” he said sunnily, as he shrugged on his own coat and beanie. “Hey Poe! Answer the phone until Ben’s recaffeinated, okay?” 

A distracted-looking Poe Dameron jerked his head up form the report he was rereading.

“Yeah no worries, Doph.” He called back amiably.

As soon as Mitaka was out of sight, Poe scrambled into Ben’s office. Closing the door behind him, he announced: “Kaydel thinks she might be pregnant!” 

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Ben growled as he wiped spilled coffee from his chin. 

“She’s missed her period, Ben.” He lamented, as he dropped into the spare chair, his stupid prettyboy face in his hands. 

“Well Mozel fucking Tov, Poe. I told you not to mess around with that girl - that nutcase mother of hers is going to peel your dick like a banana. Just please tell me you haven’t been crawling in through her bedroom window.” 

Poe blanched under his tanned complexion, but rallied to defend himself. 

“You make me sound like a child molester. She’s twenty-six!” He countered. “Its not right, her bitch of a mother keeping her locked away up there!” 

“I’ve told you before, Kaydel is an adult and she swears her mother isn’t keeping her there by force.” Ben attempted to reason with him. “We’ve done wellfare checks before. I agree with you - the old bag is toxic, but Kaydel is the one who has to leave on her own accord. It’s an abusive relationship, I completely agree with you. But there’s nothing we can lock her up for.”

Ben watched the man slump further into his chair. “Look,” he continued in a gentler tone, “get a pregnancy test - at least you’ll know for sure..... maybe this is the nudge Kaydel needs to fly the coop.” He said, grimacing as he took in a mouthful of piss poor coffee.

A heavy silence fell for a minute or two, before Ben said, “You’re going to do right by her, aren’t you.” This wasn’t a question. His meaning was clear: ‘cause if you don’t I’m taking you out behind the woodshed and whop the tar out of you’.

“I love her, Ben.” He said, like the heartbroken shit-for-brains idiot he was. 

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to sigh. When was Doph coming back with his fucking danish? It wasn’t even nine yet and the whole town was losing its collective shit.

“Get your melodramatic ass out of my office, go take the patrol car down to the elementary school and hand out some speeding tickets to those leadfoot soccer moms, then swing by the supermarket and pick up a test!” Ben barked, before putting his reading glasses on and opening his emails. 

“Okay, that’s a good idea, thanks buddy.” Poe stammered as he headed back into the main office area. Ben could hear him moving around the room for a few seconds before heading out, just as Doph returned. The dickhead offered the food and coffee to his boss as if Ben was about to leap over the desk and tear his throat out. 

“Really?” He drawled at Doph’s mock apprehension. 

“Hey! I was here the day you Hulked out on your computer.” Doph called from the safety of the doorway. 

“I told you, I caught my foot on the power chord.” He muttered defensively around a mouthful of flaky buttery pastry, sugary walnuts and sour cherries, liberally showering his paperwork with shards of pastry. Doph might’ve rolled his eyes as he went back to trimming the tree.

Ben sipped his coffee. Fuck, he hated Christmas.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick PSA, I will be mentioning the rape of a unconscious woman in this chapter while I don’t go into detail about the assault. It is a recurring plot line in the story.

 

Thankfully, the rest of the morning turned out to be less stressful.

 

Poe returned to the office, surreptitiously dropping a small scrunched up shopping bag into his bottom drawer. Ben and Doph pretended not to notice, but acting sneaky in a room with cops is a sure way to get busted. Doph raised his eyebrows in a silent question to Ben, who very subtly shook his head.

 

Before lunch, Doph popped back into Ben’s office.

 

“Hey, I noticed the lunch special at Nickel is Finn’s smoked chestnut soup, did you want that?” He asked.

 

Ben’s looked up from his computer screen.

 

“Yeah sounds good,” he said distractedly, chewing his lips.

 

“Don’t forget about your meeting with Hux about the road closures for the Christmas night market.”

 

“Fuck me,” Ben groaned.

 

“Not even with Poe’s dick.” Doph quipped, to which he got beaned in the head with a stress ball shaped like big-eared green alien.

 

“Poe!” Ben barked. “Go pick up the lunches.”

 

“What! Why?”

 

“If we’re all going to act like five year olds, I’m the largest so what I say, goes. That’s why.” He snarked as he threw the ball back.

 

Lunch put Ben in a marginally better mood - Finn’s soup was good, but it didn’t have magical abilities or pot in it.

 

He walked over to the Mayor’s office, a squat brick building decorated with Christmas lights and a wreath on the black front door. Glancing through the front window, he saw a sizeable Christmas tree being decorated by Tallie Lintra and Armitage Hux. Arm was gazing up at Tallie like a besotted cocker spaniel, while passing ornaments to her as she balanced on a step ladder.

 

He knocked on the door as he stepped inside.

 

“Hey Arm? Tallie?”

 

“In here!” Arm called back. Ben turned the corner to see Arm holding Tallie’s hand, to help her down from the step ladder, the eye-catching diamond ring shining bright on her finger.

 

Hux hadn’t stopped grinning since she’d agreed to their first date, and now Ben feared the corners of Arm’s mouth would end up touching at the back of his head.

 

“Hey Ben? Oh shoot! The road closures meeting! We’ll go to my office. Darling, would you mind making us some coffee, please?” He tenderly kissed her cheek near the ear, drawing a little soft smile to her lips.

 

Ben had always felt conflicted about Tallie. She was a lovely woman whose company he enjoyed, but the guilt of being unable to solve her rape case haunted him. His failure dug its claws into his guts every time he saw her.

 

“Hey Ben, how are you? Black and two sugars, right?” She asked, smiling at him warmly as she gave his forearm a squeeze.

 

“I’m good, Tallie. Yeah, if it’s no trouble. How are the girls?”

 

At the mention of her twin girls the young woman’s smile bloomed that much sweeter, and Arm was showing so many teeth, the top of his head threatened to pop off like a Pez dispenser.

 

Tallie’s daughters, Erin and Maeve, had been born nine months after her assault.

 

“Bright as buttons. I think Erin is plotting to take over daycare,” she said wryly.

 

“She’s showing leadership skills, that’s all.” Arm said jovially.

 

“So, I suppose you know we’ve decided to move the Christmas night market from the first Baptist church’s parking lot to Main Street? I think the expanded space will be good - it’ll encourage local businesses to join in, if they don’t have to drag everything into the cold.” Arm said over his shoulder, as he lead the way into his office.

 

“People will complain if you divert the traffic off the main street into the residential streets,” Ben grumbled.

 

“It’s one night, maybe two nights next time, if it all goes well this year,” Arm explained.

 

The Mayor had relaxed since he’d started seeing Tallie. He had stopped slicking back his ginger hair and had grown a beard, which had the effect of giving him an more relaxed aspect. His essential nature hadn’t really changed, but Tallie had undoubtedly been good for him, blunting his sharpest edges. Armitage Hux was still ambitious and, in his mind, everything could be improved.

 

Ben was of a more of a practical bent of mind, as in ‘this was going to make the Mayor look good while being a huge pain in Ben’s ass’.

 

Tallie came in with the coffee, Ben thanked her; it was passable, but almost cold. She, Ben and Arm settled into sort out the logistics of the event. Ben felt it was a too big an event for just two police officers, and instead proposed getting two extra hands in: Snap Wexley and Jess Pava, from the sheriff’s department the next town over. Arm wasn’t thrilled by the extra overtime that would have to be paid, but Ben pointed out that if something were to happen, they wouldn’t want to be short-handed.

 

Arm sat back in his chair with his index finger pressed against his lips. Clearly this gesture meant something to Tallie.

 

“What are you thinking?” She asked.

 

Arm smiled wryly.

 

“That this had better be a success.” He told her. She gently slipped her hand over his and gave it a squeeze, prompting him to raise her hand to his lips to gently kiss the back of it. If Ben didn’t leave soon, he was going to need insulin.

 

Reprieve was granted by his ringing phone. Ben checked the screen - it was the station.

 

“Solo.”

 

“Ben, Doctor Holdo just rang. She’d like to speak to you as soon as you’re available,” Doph said.

 

Fan-fucking-tastic. All he needed was his mom to call and he’d have to entire crazy woman chess set. Maybe he shouldn’t jinx it.

 

“Is there a problem?” He asked.

 

“No, no just... you know Amilyn ‘when I say jump, you better haul out the trampoline’.”

 

“I’ll head over now, thanks Doph.” He hung up. He got up from his chair.

 

“If we’re all set here, I got to head over to see Holdo.” He told them.

 

“Nothing’s wrong, is there?” Arm asked.

 

“No,” Ben replied. “You know I don’t talk about work.”

 

“I’m not asking about work, you Bellend! I was asking if you’re physically alright.” Arm said. “You look exhausted, Ben.”

 

“I’m fine, I just had a late night.”

 

He definitely didn’t look fine. There where dark shadows lurking almost permanently under his normally bright brown eyes and he’d obviously lost weight.

 

“Come over to dinner Friday night - not an offer, it’s an order. Understand, tough guy?” Tallie said sternly. “Come over at seven, bring red wine.” Arm gave her another soppy adoring look. That settled it, he was officially the most pussy-whipped man in North America.

 

“That sounds good, Tallie. Thanks.” Why be proud? He couldn’t afford to keep buying all his meals at Nickel and, besides, cooking for one was boring. “I’d better not keep Amilyn waiting. I’ll see you.” With that, he fled all the lovey dovey crap before they started rubbing noses and calling each other ‘snookums’ or some such shit.

 

Doctor Amilyn Holdo MD was a great friend of Ben’s mother and therefore knew about each and every stupid thing Ben had done in his thirty years on this planet. So if there was one person in Estoria that took less shit than Ben Solo, it was Amilyn Holdo.

 

He might as well have been five years old again, with his head split open after he’d run into his father’s shopping cart while pretending to be a bull in the supermarket, for all the respect she showed him.

 

Amanda D’Acy, Dr Holdo’s receptionist, sat behind the desk - just like she had when he was five, and a half-frantic Han had carried him into the doctor’s office like a football, with a handkerchief pressed against his blood-soaked head. Her hair had been halo of blonde curls then; now it was silvery white.

 

“Afternoon, Ben. Take a seat.” She said with little fanfare, and answered the phone.

 

Ben deposited himself on a slightly too-small-for-someone-his-size chair. The room looked different to the how he remembered it from his boyhood. The room was now painted an airy purplish pale blue but still had a print of Chagall’s ‘La Mariée’ painting hanging on the wall.

 

A bride in an orangey red dress was being creeped on by a man with a long nose, accompanied by a fish with arms holding a candle and a goat playing a violin in the background - weird shit, but Ben had always found it strangely fascinating. He remembered sitting on his dad’s knee, covered with the stickiness with his own blood and Han’s scent of dial soap, wood and old leather jacket, looking at this picture and asking what it meant.

 

“It’s about love, kid. How it feels.” Han had said, his rough baritone further thickened by emotion.

 

Ben looked at the print now, through the eyes of an adult. To him, the bride looked detached - she was the focus of the painting, but her reddish orange dress marked her as different from the rest of the subjects in the painting. A temporary visitor to this strange blue world and its opposite in every way.

 

Amilyn’s voice cut off his art critic/mother issues stream of thought.

 

“Ben?” Amilyn was standing in the doorway to her office, her lilac coloured hair arranged with silver combs to keep it off her face. She was elegantly dressed in a grey trousers and a soft purple cashmere sweater with wing-like sleeves that suited her thin tall frame. She tended to wear shoes that added to her considerable height, but Ben still towered over her. Not that she was intimidated.

 

She smirked as her penetrating blue eyes bore holes into his skull.

 

“You look like shit.”

 

“Well thank you for that, Amilyn. What seems to be the problem?”

 

She jerked her head for Ben to follow.

 

“At a cursory glance, I’d say you’re not sleeping and you’re losing weight, so this ‘flu season will knock you on your flat stubborn ass. Did you get the ‘flu shot yet?” She said, a hair less than civil.

 

“I was going to do it tomorrow.” Ben huffed.

 

“Bullshit.” She declared. “Han used to say the same thing, and I didn’t believe him either. Sit, take off your shirt.” She ordered, pointing to the chair next to her desk, the hair gone.

 

“Amilyn,” he said wearily, “look, what was it you called me here for? Because I don’t think it was a check-up.”

 

“I’m going to give you a B12 shot too. When was your last tetanus shot? And no, of course it wasn’t. Take off your shirt. Come on, hurry up - other people are waiting.”

 

He sighed. God must’ve hit the estrogen button today. Resigned, he dropped his coat onto the chair and undid his shirt, then pulled off the thermal underneath, leaving him in a soft black tee shirt he’d had for years.

 

“I’m not sure,” he said, reconciled to his fate of becoming a pin cushion.

 

“Right well, you’re getting one of those too,” she said imperiously, as she prepared the needles. “Roll up your sleeve. A young woman came in this morning asking questions about Han and Luke. I thought I should warn you about it.”

 

“British brunette with greenish eyes, early twenties, red coat?”

 

“Yep, that’s her,” she said as she stabbed him with the ‘flu shot. “Do you know her?”

 

Ben hissed with pain. “We’ve met.”

 

“Big baby.” She chided. “Other side.” She held a cotton ball over the injection site and he watched as she busily plastered medical tape over it. He then rolled up his other sleeve obediently.

 

“What did you tell her?”

 

“I reminded her about HIPAA law and told her not to let the doorknob hit her in the ass on her way out.” She replied, archly.

 

“Ben... I’ve seen her kind before...” He’d just started to relax slightly when she stuck him with the B12. “That one has had to survive, she’s the sort to keep going until she finds what she wants.” Amilyn said, her blue eyes seeking his.

 

“Dad and Luke died ordinary deaths, Amilyn. There’s nothing for her to find.” He said, returning her piercing look.

 

“I know that, Ben. It’s the damage she’s might do in the meantime, if this girl’s going to come in and kick a hornets’ nest. What are we going to do about it?”

 

“I’ll deal with her.”

 

Amilyn looked doubtful.

 

“I will, okay?” Ben said.

 

“Okay.”

 

Then she stabbed him with the tetanus shot. Ben hissed. Fuck that stung!

 

“Did you want a lollipop, my big brave boy?”

 

“Bend over, I’ll show you were you can stick that lollipop.” He snarked as he pulled on his thermal shirt. Amilyn cuffed the side of his head.

 

“I’m telling your mother what kind of mouth her son has.” She told him with a finger in his face.

 

“Who do you think I inherited it from?” Ben quite rightly pointed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this works I’m not very tech savvy, this link leads to the tumblr of a really talented person. She painted a gorgeous Reylo version of La Mariee which is the painting I mentioned in this chapter. It’s stunning so please check it out. 
> 
> https://colliderofhadron.tumblr.com/post/179765693331/littlegreenbirdy-soylent-shirl-ben-solo


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More potential triggering stuff in here, it’s a reimagining of Rey’s childhood, so there nothing here that hasn’t been stated or alluded too in the two movies and the novelisations. But there’s mentions of child exploitation and drug use so I have warned you.

Ben stood in his kitchen, microwaving a plate of beef casserole - taking it out and poking it with a fork to break up the frozen middle, then putting it back in. He thought about making mashed potatoes, but it was too much trouble just for one serving. Still, he would have really liked some with his meal.

 

The door bell rang - that would be Gwen. Please God, let it be Gwen...it seemed the forces that be had had enough of tormenting him today.

 

“Hey!” Gwen Phasma said. She looked beat.

 

“Come in, Frosty. Take a load off.”

 

“Hilarious, you emo fuck. Do you own any clothes that aren’t black? Be useful - rub my feet.” Gwen groaned as she waddled through the doorway, still wearing the ugly snowman sweater. She was shaped like snowman these days, at seven months pregnant.

 

“That’s what your enormous Scottish baby daddy is for,” he said, as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black sweat pants. “I’m your friend. I don’t have to deal with your feet.”

 

She gave Ben a hangdog look.

 

“I’ll name the baby after you,” she wheedled.

 

“I know it’s a girl - Doph is fucking gossip.” Ben said dryly.

 

“How the hell does Doph know? I only told Rory! I’ll break his thumbs, I told him I’d break his thumbs if he…,” she stopped talking as she noticed Ben’s smirking face. “Oh, you deceitful sack of monkey shit!”

 

He crouched down level with Gwen’s rounded tummy. “It’s that easy baby girl. Uncle Ben will teach you how…,” he told the closest person to a niece he’d ever be likely to have. Her mother slapped at him, but Ben darted out of range.

 

Gwen stopped to inhale a lung full of the air. “Is that beef casserole?”

 

“You’re a cliché, woman, you know that?” He called as he went to put another portion of frozen casserole into the microwave. Gwen settled onto the couch as Ben returned with his dinner, now selflessly sacrificed to the ravenous mother-to-be.

 

“So, the woman in red? I’ll listen, you rub my feet. That’s the price for my counsel, Solo. Take it or leave it.”

 

“You’re going to leave your socks on, or no deal,” he told her as she balanced the plate on her bump. Ben threw two more logs into the big stacked stone fireplace.

 

“This is really good.... God I miss red wine,” she said between bites. “This would be perfect with a big glass of red wine, do you have any bread?”

 

“You’re doing a lot of talking - you said you were going to listen!” He grumbled, while fetching the bread from the kitchen and retrieving his own dinner.

 

“I said I would listen while you rubbed my feet. My feet aren’t being rubbed, Ben.” She replied in a slow, drawling tone as though she was explaining something complex to a someone who wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

He returned with his plate, two glasses of milk and a few slices of buttered brown bread on a tray.

 

“Happy?”

 

“Happier,” Gwen hedged. “What about the red woman?”

 

Ben sat on the coffee table, thankfully a very sturdy wooden one. He untied Gwen’s laces, freed her from her Duck boots and rested her right foot on his thigh.

 

“Her name is Rey Jakku, she’s a private investigator. She was in Snoke’s department until some of the most corrupt detectives pinned some kind of missing money bullshit on her when she was just a beat cop, and she was forced to quit.”

 

“Oh shit! Do you remember her?” Gwen asked, eyes like round blue sapphires.

 

“No, I honestly don’t. I mean, I have this vague impression I might’ve seen her somewhere before, but I didn’t put it together.”

 

His thumbs probed into the arch of her foot, before rolling across the ball. He steadily massaged her ankle and heel as he continued to relay the information he’d found out about Rey Jakku. Amilyn had been right, this woman is a survivor.

 

“I did a full background check on her - before she was a cop, she was in the foster care system. She was about five or so when her junkie parents sold her for heroin to a seriously fucking shady salvager, who used her as slave labor.”

 

Gwen looked vaguely ill, one hand subconsciously dropped to her bump.

 

“He somehow got an arm torn off in a bar brawl and the girl came to attention of the police.”

 

Gwen paled. “For fuck sake, Ben, I’m eating!” She grunted. Ben pulled a ‘sorry, not sorry’ face and continued.

 

“So, she’s shifted around foster homes until she’s eighteen, when she’s kicked out into the world. She applies for the police academy and graduates top of the class. Gets her first assignment, to Snoke’s precinct. Somehow, despite the shower of shit that’s been poured on this girl, she’s as straight as a grizzly bear’s dick. So, you can imagine, that goes over real big, she gets stitched up. Without a family to fall back on, she ends up living on the streets, where she mets my Mom.”

 

Gwen’s eyes widened but, due to the wad of bread in her mouth, she didn’t comment.

 

“I couldn’t find anything on her for a while, until she re-emerged as a private investigator. And the main beneficiary of one Luke Skywalker’s will.”

 

“What the actual fuck?” Gwen breathed.

 

Ben drained his glass of milk before taking up her left foot.

 

“That’s what I thought too,” he said, mildly.

 

“So you’ve just been circling around each other and never properly met until now, when she cussed you out in middle of the street?” Gwen said in disbelief.

 

He shrugged. “Looks like it. And, oh, she believes I murdered Luke and Han.” He added miserably.

 

“Did you talk to your mother about her?”

 

“Yeah, there’s a fun conversation. Did it occur to you Leia might’ve sent this harpy to hunt me down?”

 

“Aren’t you being slightly dramatic?” Gwen said, brow arched.

 

“Me? Dramatic? Oh, how dare you!” He chuffed, the slightest smile ghosting his plush lips.

 

She looked thoughtful.

 

“And she’s your uncle’s heir… I don’t know how to put this, so I’ll just say it. Do you think she could be his daughter or a lover?”

 

Ben suppressed a full-body shudder, unsettled enough by the thought of Luke as a lover, let alone a pretty, much younger woman’s lover.

 

Fun fact about his family’s fucked-up backstory: Luke and Leia had been separated at birth and hidden to protect them from their Russian sleeper/secret service agent father, Andy Skywalker. Their mother, Paddy, was a senator to whom Andy had been assigned as a bodyguard, and then had secretly married. He had strangled the heavily pregnant Paddy because he thought she was having an affair with his best friend and mentor, Ben Kenobi (in whose honour Ben had been named). She lived just long enough to deliver her children before dying of a cerebral haemorrhage caused by the strangulation.

 

So twenty five years later, the realisation that Luke had been trying really hard to get off with his own twin sister had pretty much ended the man’s sexual impulses. Thanksgiving dinner was always a such treat when Uncle Luke visited.

 

“Well, I doubt he’d be her type.” Ben said sardonically. “Scruffy old half-mad hermit doesn’t exactly scream ‘date me’ and, no, I don’t believe she’s my cousin.” He continued. “Luke would never let that happen to his child - that mighty Skywalker blood and all that shit he carried on about, anyone would think we’re royalty. And if Mom knew she had a niece, she’d have brought her here.”

 

Gwen inclined her head and nodded. If there was another Skywalker out there, Luke and Leia would have turned the world upside down to find her and bring her home. There was no question about that.

 

“So, what else could she be? A protégée?”

 

Ben frowned. Maybe Leia sent her to Luke - now that seemed far more likely than a recluse and a young homeless woman just happening to cross paths. After all, she’d done it before. If Leia had found a gifted and intelligent young woman who obviously needed some direction and who had a talent for law enforcement.

 

Yes, Ben thought, Leia would send her to Luke to learn about criminal investigation. Obviously, she didn’t have a long memory - it hadn’t worked with Ben, so why would it be any different this time? Ben continued rubbing Gwen’s feet while he churned things over.

 

“Yeah, I know brooding is kind of your thing, but it’s incredibly boring to watch. What are you thinking?”

 

“Well, I’m thinking Leia would have sent this girl to Luke,” he told her as he started tucking into his dinner.

 

Yeah, Gwen was right. This needed a good peppery Zinfandel. He had some in the kitchen but it would be unfair to drink it in front of her.

 

Her fair brows drew together.

 

“But Luke was a complete shut-in - wouldn’t that be pointless?” She queried. “Luke could’ve just sent her away.”

 

“It’s Leia!” Ben snorted. “She wouldn’t think so one dimensionally. She would have taken into account this Rey’s nature.” He took another bite of beef, chewing thoughtfully. “She’s... tenacious. Resourceful. She would drag Luke out of his damn cave by the beard if she had to.”

 

“You like her.”

 

“No!” He scoffed, but the tell-tale flush in his pale cheeks gave him away. Being fair-skinned sucked donkey balls sometimes. “I haven’t even talked to her.”

 

Gwen poked him in the ribs with her foot and cackled.

 

“I call bullshit Ben Solo. You love it when a woman kicks you in the balls!”

 

“I can categorically tell you I don’t ‘love it’ when a woman does that. You should know,” he said dryly.

 

“I’ve known you since we were fourteen. You like it when a woman can kick your ass.” Gwen said, pointing at him with her fork.

 

“Curb your matchmaking impulses, Gwen! Remember, she has the impression I murdered my own father and uncle. I don’t think she’s going swipe right.”

 

“But you want her to swipe right.”

 

“On a double murderer? That’s likely!” He said, sarcastically. “She seems to have some pretty set ideas about me,” he muttered grimly as he took up their plates. Gwen didn’t miss the fact that his plate was still half-full.

 

“Finished your dinner?” she said pointedly.

 

“Getting in some early momming practice, are we?” He asked. “Isn’t the Glaswegian Bigfoot going to be curious where the mother of his cub is? Pup...? What’s the correct term here?”

 

She hurled a cushion at his retreating back.

 

“I called Rory to tell him that I was checking on you, so stop fucking deflecting, Gobshite!”

 

“’Gobshite’? Another Cleganism?”

 

“No, knock it off, Ben. You have to talk to this Rey, otherwise she will stir up trouble. Show her the evidence. Talk to her. Show her you’re not a psycho, and eat your dinner!”

 

Was ever woman in Estoria going to bust his balls this week, he wondered resentfully has he took a bite of casserole.

 

“Do you have any ice cream?” Gwen asked rubbing her bump.

 

“In the freezer, you bottomless pit. Get me a bowl too!” he demanded.

 

“Not until you finish your dinner, young man.” She told him firmly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it’s date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised I’ve got to post more chapters or in going to over shoot my deadline of Christmas. 
> 
> So I’m posting three times a week, I don’t think there’s anything mentioned in this chapter that’s potentially triggering. If I’m wrong, i’m very sorry because sincerely I would hate to upset anyone.

This Rey Jakku was an elusive little shit.

She managed to avoid him all over town, but he knew she was staying at ‘The Pines’ motel, just off the interstate. After reflection, Ben had elected to not approach her at the fleabag motel - if he was going to talk to her, he wanted people around. But he also needed some privacy for this potentially difficult conversation. It was important that wasn’t put on edge. 

Nickel and Diner would be an obvious choice, but he didn’t want to do it during work hours in his uniform as it would come off as too much like a formal interview. For this, he needed to be in civilian clothing. 

Plus, it seemed she was good friends with the Ticos. He’d seen Rose’s husband, Finn, hugging Rey. Nothing handsy, just a very brotherly hug in full view of his wife, but Ben still felt an acidic stab of jealousy. Oh, and Finn called her ‘Peanut’. Well, wasn’t that just precious, Ben thought sourly. No, he didn’t need her being backed-up by her friends. 

She was driving around town in this shitty ‘08 silver Ford Escape, which he’d spotted at the ‘Takodana Bar and Grill’ on Tuesday night, so on Wednesday night he got cleaned up after work and went to find her.

He took his mother’s rarely used Lexus NX. She didn’t drive a lot these days, so she left it at Ben’s for him to use. It was sort of pretentious, but the seat warmers were pretty sweet and it was black, so it had that going for it. 

He walked into the reasonably crowded bar and...

“BEN SOLO!” A female voice bellowed at him from across the room. For a woman who needed a step ladder to be seen over the top her own bar, she was staggeringly loud. 

So much for fucking covertly seeking out the girl.

“Oh boy,” he muttered softly. “Hey Maz.” He called back, nowhere near as loudly, as he raised his hand in greeting. 

Every eye in the room was now staring straight at him, especially Rey Jakku’s. Well, this was awkward. And Maz Kanata had the bad taste to be playing ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree’ to make it just that little bit more cringe inducing. 

“I assume you need something? Desperately.” The diminutive Korean American woman asked dryly.  
  
“A serving of chicken wings and a pint of Blue Moon, don’t put the orange wheel on it,” he said gravely. 

Rey swept her notebook off the table into her bag, slid out of the booth and made for the front door. She should get out while she could. That big bastard was only going to be distracted by the little wizened woman for a while, so she quickly slipped out through the crowded bar area as she made her stealthy exit.

She didn’t put on her coat. It had been stupid to buy a bright red one, vanity. Hadn’t Luke told her to blend in? That drawing attention to herself was a rookie mistake? “You need be grey,” he’d said, “not stick in people’s memory. Disappear when you have too”. She risked a glance back, but she couldn’t see that floppy-haired prick anywhere, until her face collided with something large, firm and really warm. 

“Hi,” it rumbled as Rey pulled her face out from the cleft between Ben Solo’s considerable pecs. He smirked down at her and she really wanted to punch him in the balls. Was it completely necessary for him to smell so good? Kind of bittersweet, woody and expensive. The black jumper he was wearing felt soft too - it was probably cashmere or something. The pampered little prince, well, not that little. He was freakishly tall. 

“Excuse me. I was just leaving.” Rey told him, all ice.

“Don’t run away on my account.” 

“I wasn’t.” Rey snarled. She was definitely getting away from this spoiled toss-pot. Not running away just getting away, a subtle difference but a important one. 

“Good. I ordered some wings. Have you eaten yet?” He had brown eyes, as unsettling like Leia’s, but nothing like Luke’s. His had been a stormy blue-grey, but they sure shared the same high-handed attitude.

“I already ate,” she told him loftily. 

“Uurrrggghh.” Her stomach joined the conversation. Fuck it to hell. 

“Hmmm. No, I don’t think so,” he purred. “Rey, I want you to join me,” he offered his hand to her, 

“please?”

 

Ben waited while Rey took her sweet time considering if she was going to grace him with her presence. They were in a crowded restaurant - did she think he would abduct her or something? She didn’t take it, but just made a derisive noise, equal parts huff and growl, and turned towards the restaurant half of the building. 

He placed his hand against her lower back and was startled to touch soft warm skin; he quickly drew back his hand so it hovered, but did not touch her again. The cream sweater she was wearing had two overlapping panels of soft knitted fabric and when she moved a fleeting sliver of smooth, lightly tanned skin would show for a few tantalising moments. His eyes drifted lower. Her ass was perfect - rounded cheeks in sand coloured pants that would fit in his hands perfectly. He swallowed thickly. Fucking get a grip, Solo.

He flexed his hands instinctively; it was pretty obvious what he wanted to get a grip on.

There was a booth free against the back wall and he instinctively aimed for the seat that allowed him the best views of the entrances and exits, but she moved to sit there instead. He demurred to her - it would be best if she was comfortable. 

She sat, looking around at the exposed beams in the ceiling, at the other diners and at her own fingers, anywhere but at him. So he guessed Luke hadn’t had time to teach her about interviewing: establishing a connection and active listening. It hadn’t been Luke’s strongest suit anyway, but listening... now, Ben was very good at that. After all, he’d had a lot of experience listening to women. At least this one wasn’t yelling this time. 

“I ordered the chicken wings. I hope that’s okay?” He asked softly. “Would you like something to drink?” 

Offer up something, This prompts the subject to reciprocate. Speak softly and the subject leans into creating a more intimate conversation. 

He was met with a stony silence, nothing but a little pout from her. If he thought about that too much longer, it would lead to some highly inappropriate thoughts. He bit down on the inside of his lip and shifted in his seat. Time to change tactics.

“Why do teddy bears not eat much?” He asked, his face serious. 

“I beg your pardon?” She said icily. How she managed to sound like a duchess when she was raised in a gutter was anyone’s guess. 

“Why don’t teddy bears eat much?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t teddy bears eat much?” She replied, narrowing her eyes slightly. 

“Because they’re already stuffed.” He said solemnly. She stared at him as though she couldn’t believe he had any semblance of a sense of humour. 

His beer and the food arrived at the table, and he noticed the orange wheel stuck in the brim of his glass. Maz’s little ‘fuck you’, Ben thought wryly. 

The waiter asked Rey if she would like a drink. She asked for a lemonade - apparently she wasn’t going to drink alcohol around him. Good girl, he thought, don’t make it too easy for me.

Ben plucked the orange slice off his glass and bit into it, rind and all, before taking a deep pull of his drink. The orange really complimented the beer, but it looked fucking ridiculous. 

“Please eat,” he said cordially. She wasn’t bone-thin, but putting few more pounds wouldn’t exactly hurt her. She looked at the wings suspiciously, as though figuring out whether he’d had time to poison them. Trying not to sigh, he picked up a wing and started on it. 

“Maz is famous for the wings here. That guy from ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ did a segment on her. She ran rings around him.” 

Rey said nothing, just continued to look at him coldly.

“I can eat a whole serving on my own, but you’d be missing something that’s out of this world.” Was it just him, or did that sound kind of sexual? 

Rey visibly weakened. The wings were a tempting glossy brown, sticky and smelled really good. She’d had them before and she was starving - she’d just started looking over menu options when this great pillock walked in. The beer-braised brisket sliders with cheese and chipotle sauce had looked amazing, but then so had the pork schnitzel with the sweet and sour red cabbage coleslaw. Growing up the way she had, she now wanted to try all the food. 

She picked up a wing, nibbled and almost purred. There was so much going on there - it was smoky, sweet and spicy, the meat was plump and juicy. The waiter returned with her lemonade as Rey sucked the end of her third wing. When she saw the expression on the waiter’s face, she looked across at the fuckwit, whose features appeared to be frozen. Ashamed, she put down the wing. She was eating like an animal. She wiped her hands and lips on a napkin and tried to act like an adult. 

“These are so incredible, how does Maz make them taste so good?” She asked the waiter. 

“She brines them in Lapsang Souchong tea first and double fries them,” George blurted out.

Ben was left with the distinct impression that if she’d asked him where his grandma kept her money, George would have drawn her a map. Not that he blamed him - she’d sucked and nibbled and moaned, holy fucking hell the moaning. She hadn’t re-enacted the full Meg Ryan scene or anything, but the low noises she made in her throat and her little happy bounces in her seat, had him discretely dropping his napkin over his lap after the first wing. 

Wasn’t he supposed to be finding out what she knew and whether she could be convinced he was actually human? 

“Why don’t we order our main course?” He growled. George was beginning to piss him off and he wanted to get Rey alone again for reasons. Good ones. 

“Right.. yeah, yeah.. What can I get you?” George stammered.

The waiter was thinking, ‘pregnant, please say pregnant’. His pimpled face and neck flushed as he noticed Sheriff Solo’s thunderous expression, which was enough to make him want to run back to the kitchen. Rey’s gorgeous smile notwithstanding, the sheriff was probably going to give him a ticket if he so much as nudged over the speed limit.

Fucking seventeen year olds, Ben thought savagely, somehow mentally glossing over the fact she’d given him an erection by eating a chicken wing. 

Rey was examining the menu, everything sounded delicious. 

“What are you going to have?” She asked Ben.

“The duck curry,” he murmured. 

“That sounds so good...” she enthused. “The curry I mean!” She hurriedly pointed out, before hiding behind the menu. Just pick something, anything, eat, then ditch this parricidal arsehole with his stupid purring baritone. 

“I’ll have the tomahawk steak, medium rare please,” she said. Both men froze.

“That’s a really big steak,” the patronising jerk told her. She ignored him. 

“And a side of fries too, thank you,” she told George, thrusting the menu towards him with a sharp smile. 

“The duck curry please.” A scowling Ben jabbed the menu at George, who showed a sense of self-preservation Ben wouldn’t have credited him with previously by scrambling back to the kitchen pass then taking a break. 

There was no way she could possibly eat that thing, it was huge! She’d see. 

Rey seemed to take it as something of a personal challenge when it came out. A few heads turned at the mild spectacle of the massive steak with a long curved bone on the sizzling black metal hotplate. The teenaged waitress made to place the steak in front of Ben.

“Sorry no, I ordered the curry,” he said to the nervous girl. Her fair head turned to Rey, who smiled at her warmly. 

She placed it in front of Rey with a sceptical air. Okay, she seemed to be thinking, your funeral. 

Rey dove into the steak like she hadn’t eaten in two days. Ben watched with a combination of fascination and revulsion. She ate as though she expected someone to rip the plate from her and no one had ever bothered to teach her table manners, and it made his heart ache just a little.

“What makes you think Han and Luke were murdered?” He asked, as Rey stuffed about five fries into her mouth at once. She swallowed. It looked painful. 

“Right. I’m just going to tell you everything I know just because you’re staring at me.” 

“Fair enough. How did you know Luke?” 

“He needed a housekeeper, his last one quit.” She shrugged as she cut her steak.

“No.” 

She nonchalantly raised her shoulders again as though saying ‘take it or leave it’. 

“Leia Organa sent you there to learn how to be an investigator, by Luke Skywalker, a former FBI agent.” 

She clenched her jaw. He was on the right track. 

“I needed a job,” she insisted. 

“Liar.” He said simply. She scoffed. “You were a police officer with the LVPD, in Alistair Snoke’s precinct.” 

She looked like she was beginning to lose her temper, and that she’d like nothing more than to cut him with that knife, instead of the steak. 

“So what?” 

“I know that you weren’t corrupt...”

“Because you were in on it!” She said sharply. 

“I was undercover when you started in that department. I was infiltrating a Ukrainian crime gang, I thought I was passing on vital information to put criminals in prison. I didn’t know Snoke was feeding my intelligence into his own criminal organisation. He used me!” Ben seethed. 

He was telling the truth about that, Rey knew it in her gut. Those eyes spoke volumes...

He had his mother’s eyes, a soulful honey brown with a ring of darker chestnut around his pupil. It was all there, the pain of being used like that. She recognised it. That was a hurt she knew all to well. 

She turned her attention back onto her meal. Just because he’d been used by Snoke didn’t mean he hadn’t murdered Luke and Han - a lot of people had been used and discarded by Snoke and his cronies. It would take more than pretty eyes to convince her he didn’t have something to do with his uncle and father’s deaths. 

Chewie was the key. He’d have the answers.

“Marvel or DC?” Ben asked out of nowhere, rudely interrupting her thoughts. 

“What?” 

“Is that going to be your answer to every question I ask you?” Ben asked mildly. She clenched her jaw, it seemed to be her tell for when she was annoyed. 

“Oh, I think ‘no’ is going to be the answer to a few.” 

“Okay then. Marvel or DC?” She gave him a look that would’ve made his head melt if she’d superpowers. But he plowed on and, despite being something of an introvert, needling her gave him a slightly perverse little pleasure. 

“You’re probably DC,” she accused, like it was a bad thing. 

“Batman and the Joker are awesome adversaries.” He declared, the hint of a challenge there. 

“The DC universe is completely masochistic,” she said flatly. 

“Then how come DC made a female protagonist movie before Marvel?” 

“I’ll admit that Wonder Woman was pretty good, but you do know the story behind the original concept of comic book Wonder Woman? She was basically the secretary for the Justice League and she could be rendered powerless by being tied up by a man, a thinly veiled bondage metaphor.” 

He really wished she had mentioned bondage, the images that provided wasn’t helping his trouser situation.

“So you’re Marvel then,” he said, shifting again and wishing his dick would calm the fuck down. She snorted softly, as though it aggrieved her to reveal even that much about her. “Me too.”

Rey stabbed her steak so hard that Ben feared for the plate. 

“I liked Tom Hardy as Venom,” he continued. “I find anti heroes much more interesting than unrealistic, white-hat hero characters.” Was that grinding noise the knife on her plate or her teeth? Maybe he should quit before he was stabbed. “What do you think?” He asked as he ate another fork-full of delicious duck curry. Maz made her excellent Thai red curry with lychees and coconut milk, but she’d had to tone down the chilli because she nearly incinerated Arm’s taste buds when she’d first put it on the menu. Still, it was Arm’s fault - he was the one who told her he could handle a fiery curry. Lesson learned - never fuck about with the Koreans and chillies. 

“I think it sounds like a lot of old tosh, trying to excuse behaving like an arsehole by saying it’s somehow sexy, complex and mysterious.” She said coldly.

Ouch, at this rate the parking lot was probably a lot warmer than her. He chewed thoughtfully on his mouthful of duck and rice. 

“Are you saying that people who have done bad things can only ever be evil and there no such thing as redemption?” Her knife scraped the plate with a noise that made him flinch slightly. 

“One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness,” she said, shoving a chunk of beef in her trap. 

“‘Though it seems enough to condemn him’,” he finished. “Did you really, really just quote ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’? That’s adorable!” and for the first in ages he laughed. It was just a little chuckle, but it felt to Ben like stretching after being in a cramped space for too long.

 

Rey struggled to swallow the half-chewed meat. His smile was dazzling, goofy as fuck but sweet and wholehearted, and he also had something green stuck between his rabbitty front teeth. She felt her cheeks flush hot and tried not to look directly at him for the rest of the meal. It didn’t mean anything - it had just been a while, that’s all. She’d been stuck on Ahchto Island with Luke and, before that, dating hadn’t exactly been a priority..., it was just a lack of being around attractive men of her own age, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I murdered Chewie and a little piece of my soul die.

Ben was freezing his ass off on the side of the highway. It had been stupid-early and still dark when he’d driven the speed camera van out, stopping at a spot on a bend in the highway known for people putting their foot down. Poe pulled up to take him back into town just as he was taking another sip of coffee. He double-checked the van doors were locked then got into the patrol car with Poe.

 

“How was your date?” Dameron asked, a cheesy grin all over his face.

 

“I didn’t have a date. I had a meal with a woman.”

 

“I don’t know if you know this, boss, but that’s kind of what a date is?” He snarked.

 

“Tell that to Doph.” Ben growled.

 

“Who do you think told me about your date?”

 

Fucking Doph! He was a gossiping old woman - if he knew, he’d make damn sure everyone else in town knew, too. He angrily finished off his coffee.

 

“Just shut up and drive to Nickel. I need more coffee. If you’re so eager to talk about women, how’s Kaydel?” Ben snapped.

 

“I don’t know, I haven’t been able to see her. I’m going over on Friday night - her mother’s going out for a book club meeting or some shit.” He sounded miserable.

 

Ben felt bad for him, He must’ve have been worried sick about her. Kaydel’s mother, Colette was the town’s looney. When she was young she’d been a delicate beauty but, when her husband left her for another man, something broke inside her. Colette kept her daughter close to her at all times, homeschooling her, not taking her anywhere other than church and having everything delivered that she could. The internet had been an incredible enabler for her. Mrs Connix had tongue like a file too - on their last visit to the Connix home, she’d told Ben his pedigree. Like he was unaware of that.

 

“Poe, what are you going to do if she is pregnant?”

 

“The same thing I was going to do anyway. Marry her.”

 

“Good.”

 

The men drove on in silence for a while. Ben liked this part of the night, just before dawn. The light pollution at this time of day was almost nil, not that there was much to begin with. The stars were a child’s art project, a vast black canvas strewn with haphazardly-thrown glitter, in dazzling streams of silver, pinks and blues. The Milky Way. A sweep of light and energy arrayed before the two men as they glanced up in awe. So much beauty amongst so much turmoil, Ben thought. In a way, he felt like an infinitely smaller reflection of the same conflict.

 

“It’s pretty, isn’t it.” Poe stated. It was a shame he was a sheriff’s deputy. Clearly he was a great loss to the philosophical community.

 

“Yeah, it’s really pretty.” Ben breathed, as Poe passed the sign saying ‘Estoria, home of the mighty Knights’, with a cartoon knight in black armour wielding a sword.

 

Despite being surrounded by the eternal mysteries of the galaxy, just one question troubled Ben at this exact moment: how the fuck had that woman eat that whole gigantic steak, and still have room for the fries?

 

The woman in question had turned up at the Nickel obscenely early and was now drinking peppermint tea. She usually preferred a strong builders’ brew first thing in the morning, but today she chewed on a tums, and even that was more than she could handle at this point.

 

She belched and hoped Finn or Rose hadn’t heard her. Well, at least she wasn’t going to be hungry for a while. She’d fill up her car next, drive across to Denver and present her file of evidence to Commissioner Arkbar - that was her first worry. The second was how the hell she was going to explain to Leia that her son had murdered his uncle and father.

 

“Hey Peanut, penny for your thoughts,” Finn Tico said as he sat down next to her. Rey looked at her brother/best friend in the universe.

 

“I found it.”

 

“What, the evidence? So Solo did it then? He killed them?”

 

“Well no, it’s not that much of a slam dunk, but Han and Luke were murdered and this proves it!” She said, stabbing a finger to the file.

 

“How?”

 

“Han had a dog, a Newfoundland he called ‘Chewie’. After Han died, Luke took the dog back to Ahchto island with him, and Chewie got sick. We thought he was just pining for Han but then he died a few days after Luke.” Rey started, speaking quietly so that only Finn could hear. “Chewie was a very old dog and I didn’t have the mental acuity to think about why at the time, so I buried him on Ahchto. Then I thought, what if Chewie was poisoned? I had him exhumed and a necropsy preformed.” Rey looked directly into Finn’s shocked eyes.

 

She looked back down and peered thoughtfully into her peppermint tea for a short while, ignoring the complaints from her stomach, before continuing. “Chewie was poisoned, by methyl iodide. Methyl iodide poisoning can resemble a stroke, and Luke was definitely a little off after he’d had breakfast and his swim that morning, so he just meditated after that. He died while I was taking my run.”

 

Her throat felt tight, even all these months later. Rey hated to admit it, but when she first arrived on the island, she’d hoped that Luke Skywalker would be a mentor or, truthfully, some kind of father figure. He’d slammed the door in her face, sent her away. She’d had to camp out on his doorstep to get him to even speak to her.

 

She’d been so angry at him on the day, before he died - his sister needed him and he just sat on that miserable cold wet rock, sulking.

 

“You should tell Poe Dameron.” Finn said firmly.

 

“Who’s that?”

 

“The deputy.”

 

“The deputy? As in that murdering wank-stain’s deputy? Have you lost your mind? He’ll tell him!” Rey hissed.

 

Finn shook his head.

 

“No way. Poe’s a good cop, and Poe and Solo aren’t friends. Solo doesn’t have friends. Poe and I go to the gym together, he’s a great guy.” Finn’s expression turned deadly serious. “The more people that know, the better, Peanut.”

 

Finn was right, she was very vulnerable. If Ben Solo were to kill her, the truth might never come out.

 

“Here, now’s your chance!” Finn said, pointing at the doorway just as Poe Dameron walked in. Poe was a handsome man who looked to be in his early thirties, with bedroom eyes and one very biteable bottom lip. Not as biteable as Ben Solo’s, but at least these lips weren’t attached to a double murderer.

 

He was only a little taller than Rey - in a decent pair of heels, she’d tower over him. Poe pulled off his sheriff-issue beanie to reveal black curly hair sprinkled with a little silver. Maybe he was in his late thirties, she mused.

 

“Hey Finn, buddy! I need three coffees to go, and that jerk Solo can pay for his own.”

 

Rey liked him already.

 

“Sure, man. Have you met Rey yet? Poe, this is Rey Jakku. She’s my adopted sister.”

 

Poe, never one to miss a pretty face, turned on the charm as he shook her hand warmly.

 

“Hi. I’m Poe, Poe Dameron.”

 

“Like the Teletubbie?” Rey asked, smiling.

 

He laughed, not offended in the slightest.

 

“Yeah, Teletubbies weren’t a thing until I was in my last year high school. I went to the Halloween kegger in bright red long johns and hat made of a wire coat hanger and red felt. It was hilarious!” Poe’s brown eyes shone bright with memories of high school glories.

 

“Poe, I need to talk to you about Ben Solo, and I need you to keep it confidential.” Rey said carefully.

 

After telling her story and showing him the lab results, Poe rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. Rey could hear the rasp of his stubble.

 

“It’s circumstantial evidence at best, Rey, and Ben has an alibi for both deaths: me and Doph Mitaka. He was there in the office, he didn’t go to the Luke’s island or his Dad’s until after Han was dead.”

 

Rey flushed with frustration. “That’s the point! If Luke was poisoned then Han might have been killed that way too, A poison that can induce a heart attack, he wouldn’t need to be there.” She told him gently.

 

“Look, maybe...but I went to Han’s crime scene there was only one set of tracks apart from Ben’s: Han’s. And there hadn’t been a struggle. Han would not have just sat there and let someone stick him with a needle. It had snowed that morning - if there’d been a struggle, the snow would’ve been kicked up, even though it was only a light dusting.”

 

“But what if he’d been given the poison beforehand maybe in something he could eaten?” This had to be enough to get an exhumation order on Han. She said. It had to be, it just had to be. “I’m going to get some answers here and I not leaving until I do.” She declared.

 

Finn spoke up “Peanut, Han ate here that day, he ate most of his lunches here.”

 

 

A troubled Poe Dameron got back into the patrol car.

 

“Took you long enough. Yakking to Finn, were you?”

 

“Yeah, buddy, sorry. Here you go,” he said as he passed Ben his travel cup of coffee.

 

“It better still be hot.” Ben grumbled.

 

Should he tell Ben? No way. What if what Rey had said was true? He’d be aiding and abetting. Who’d be there for Kaydel if he got sent to prison as an accessory to a double murder? Bad things happen to cops in jail.

 

No, he should quietly look into Han’s death.

 

The morning had been quiet. After lunch, Mrs Kennedy had demanded that Ben come to her home, because someone had broken in and stolen her car keys. Ben approached the house, noting that Mrs Kennedy’s car was still parked in the garage and there appeared to be no exterior damage to the door or windows.

 

“Afternoon, Mrs Kennedy.”

 

“Young Solo! How’s your Dad?”

 

Mrs Kennedy was in the early stages of dementia.

 

“Still the same as the last time I saw him, Mrs Kennedy.”

 

Still dead.

 

“Mrs Kennedy, can you show me how the intruder got in?”

 

The old dear looked flustered, and her hands shook just a little bit. He’d have to talk to her daughter, it wouldn’t be long before Mrs Kennedy needed more care.

 

“I’m not sure, but my car keys are gone.”

 

She pushed her salt and pepper hair away from her eyes, it didn’t look like she had brushed it this morning.

 

“Would you mind if I checked around a bit? See if I can find where they got in?”

 

She nodded in a vague way.

 

Ben scanned the room - it was neat, but he noted the frozen meal packages in the trash. The bed was made and there was a fresh towel in the bathroom, she was keeping a fairly clean home and feeding herself but little things were starting to slide. The carpet needed a vacuum and the shelves could use a dust. Yes, he’d call the daughter about this. On a hunch, he stuck his hand down around the sides of her chair and he felt the irregular metal shape. He pulled out her keys, and noticed there wasn’t a car key on the key ring.

 

When she saw them, she started to cry.

 

“Oh my! Oh, I’m such an old fool,” said muttered softly, covering her face with a hand as she blinked back the tears.

 

“It’s okay, Mrs Kennedy, it’s a good result. You know now, no one has been in your house and you don’t need to get an expensive locksmith out. It’s a good result.” He gave her a few tissues from the box on the counter.

 

He took one of her frail papery hands in his own as she mopped her cheeks and raked her fingers through her hair.

 

“Mrs Kennedy, do you need some help with your hair? My mother sometimes got me to brush her hair for her. She would sit on the floor in front of the couch and lean back on my shins to pin me there, then she would give me a hair brush. The price of freedom was to brush her hair.” He told her gravely.

 

There was a hairbrush in the bathroom, he retrieved it and stood behind her as he guided her onto a kitchen stool. He started brushing out the ends of her greying hair, carefully avoiding pulling on her delicate skin, before brushing it right through. He saw the old lady tilt her head, enjoying the feeling. When he was satisfied with his handwork, he French braided it back into a single neat braid.

 

“That’ll be a bit more comfortable for you. Was there anything else you needed?” He asked.

 

“You’re a good boy Benjamin, thank you. Tell that scoundrel of a father of yours I don’t know how he raised such a nice son,” she said, sounding a bit more like her old self.

 

“Don’t tell anyone. It would ruin the whole dark and scary thing I got going here.” Gesturing to the long thin scar that transversed the right hand side of his face.

 

“Okay,” she chuckled.

 

Ben’s cell phone started ringing.

 

“Do you mind if I get that? It’s the office.”

 

Mrs Kennedy waved an airy hand and patted her hair.

 

“Solo, .... yeah, Doph, okay yes.... I’ll call her okay. I shouldn’t be much longer. Okay bye.”

 

Ben looked into those rheumy grey green eyes.

 

“Now I’d be willing to stay here and be your hairdresser, Mrs Kennedy, but I have to be the sheriff now.”

 

“Oh, you Solos! I always was a fool for a handsome devil.”

 

Outside in the softly falling snow, he flipped through his phone contacts and climbed into his patrol car.

 

Tallie answered on the second ring.

 

“Good afternoon, Estoria town councilMayor Hux’s office,” she said in her bell-like voice.

 

“Hey Tallie. It’s Ben. Doph said you wanted me to call.”

 

“Ben!” Tallie cried. “I know this is a terrible thing to do, but could I come over to your house and cook dinner? I think Arm’s oven atrophied from lack of use. I called the electrician, but he won’t come out til Tuesday, and I have a Beef Wellington and a treacle tart to make!”

 

Ben almost laughed - she sounded like she was panicking. He didn’t know what treacle was but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t blow up, so panicking seemed a little over the top. Tallie, Erin and Maeve had moved in with a delighted Hux last week.

 

“Tallie, it’s fine. Come by the office and pick up the keys when you want to start cooking.”

 

“Thank you! You’re an angel!”

 

Angel or devil? Maybe people should make up their minds about me, he thought wryly as he drove back to the station.

 

Back at the office as Ben hung up his coat Doph asked. “Hey Ben, Mrs Kennedy okay?”

 

“She alright for now, but I’m giving her daughter a call. She’s going to be needing more care before long.”

 

Doph sighed. “It’s a cruel thing, dementia. My grandpa had it.”

 

Ben didn’t have any concerns about telling Doph what was happening, even though Doph had a somewhat dubious morality when it came to information. Gossip was to be spread freely - who’s having a baby, who’s got a new job, which sheriff had been seen having dinner with an attractive woman for the first time in ages, and how likely it was that said sheriff would screw it up or whether he’s finally getting his shit together to give his mother some grandchildren to spoil.

 

Anything that related to work, however, was sacrosanct.

 

“What did Tallie want?”

 

“Apparently I’m having the Mayor for dinner,” said Ben with wolfish smile.

 

“I really don’t like the way you phrased that Ben,” Doph muttered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really don’t want to ruin the cliffhanger but something really not nice happens to Poe, I’m not terribly graphic in describing the violence but it’s there so be warned. I’d stop at “Poe?” If the thought of hurting Poe damages your soul. I don’t blame you because Oscar Issac is bae.

On Friday night at about six, Ben pulled into his garage, with the first strain of ‘Have a Holly Jolly Christmas’ spilling out the speakers of the Durango. 

He sighed, grateful to be home. He was plunged into silence the second he killed the car’s ignition, suddenly feeling even more grateful that he didn’t have to put up with any more fucking Christmas music for the rest of the day. The lights in the kitchen were on, and in the cheery golden light he could see Tallie moving around inside. 

Was this what it would be like to have a wife, coming home to a warm house with a meal cooked? Not to be sexist, but that seemed like something he wouldn’t mind. 

It had been a day of hassles and sorting out petty problems. There had been a shoplifter at a two dollar store - a teenager who didn’t want to spend his money on his sister’s Christmas gift.

Walter and Jack, two neighbours, had had a scuffle over Walter shovelling snow into Jack’s driveway in retaliation for Jack teaching his cat to crap on Walter’s back step. Who knew you could train cats? They’d been feuding for years. Still, senior citizens battling with snow shovels had made for quite a show.

Ben entered his house through the mud room, shedding layers and his boots. It smelled wonderful inside, of something sweet and roasted beef. Tallie’s toddler twin girls, blonde with blue eyes like their mother’s, played in the great room; one of them was standing up and edging her way down the couch. They were wearing matching onesies in black and red buffalo check. He didn’t like it when people dressed their twins identically - it made him think of those creepy twins in ‘The Shining’. 

He supposed he wouldn’t have blonde children, if he had any at all. His children would probably be dark haired, though he mused it would depend on who their mother was. The image of two black-haired little boys running towards him, followed by a younger girl with brown hair popped into his brain with surprising ease. 

“Hey, there you are! Dinner will be another twenty minutes,” Tallie said as he entered the kitchen room. 

“It smells great, Tallie. I’m just going to get cleaned up. Where’s Arm?” 

“I sent him back to town to get some red wine.” 

“You didn’t need to do that. There’s a few bottles in the pantry,” Ben said, pointing to the small store room. 

“I didn’t want to impose, and it doesn’t hurt to boss him around. It keeps him from getting ideas above his station,” she told him in conspiratorial tone.

Ben’s mouth twisted into a smirk. She had Armitage Hux worked out all right. 

He felt something tug on his trousers and looked down as one of the twins tried to pull herself up using his pants leg. He bent over to pick her up and immediately regretted it. 

“What the hell are you feeding her Tallie?” She might’ve looked sweet but, boy she smelled like a petting zoo. Maybe he wasn’t ready for kids. 

“Oh no Ben! Has Erin messed?” Tallie stopping cutting up the beans, making to take her child back. 

“Tallie, you’re preparing my food, so I’d prefer you to not touch this.” He held Erin away from his body. “Where’s your diaper bag?” 

“You’re going to change a diaper?” She questioned, sounding doubtful. 

“No... I am going to take her out in backyard and hose her down.” He drawled, spotting the bag on one of the kitchen chairs in front of the counter. He shifted Erin onto his hip and took the bag. 

Kneeling in front of the coffee table, Ben looked in the bag and he realised there might be more to this than he first thought. He located a mat to lay her on, a diaper, wipes and ziplock bag, and he set about freeing the little girl’s legs from the onesie. 

He gagged instantly. He couldn’t believe the smell or the quantity. 

He gagged again.

“Hand her over, tough guy. Go finish the beans.” 

Ben felt embarrassed and pathetically grateful. He’d always had a weak stomach, and had tried for years to conquer it, but he’d still had to use the toothpaste up the nose trick at the one bad autopsy he’d had to attend as sheriff. There was no way he’d allow Poe Dameron to witness him throwing his guts up in a waste paper basket. 

It wasn’t so much the sights he couldn’t handle, it was the smells. He hadn’t felt sick at car versus motorcycle in May. The impact had torn the man’s head off, helmet and all but, holy shit, the hunter he found five days after dying of a shooting mishap when the foolish young man tried to climb over a fence while carrying his grandfather’s rifle... He gagged from the mere memory. He also tried hard not to recall the field trip to the Body Farm he’d attended at the academy. That was something no one present would ever be likely forget either. 

Arm walked in from the entryway, his face shifted from the pinched expression he normally wore to a soft smile when Maeve started to make huffing noises on seeing him. 

“You okay? You look almost green...” he said to Ben, scooping the little girl up with a practiced air. Maeve babbled, then shoved her finger up his nose. 

“Yeah fine,” Ben mumbled as he went to get some water from the fridge.

Tallie had finished changing the little stink-butt and Ben didn’t get a reprieve from his nausea now that she and Arm were having a few pre-dinner smooches, though it was gratifying to watch Arm jump when Erin bit his neck because he hadn’t paid her enough attention. 

“Erin. No! Naughty. No biting.” Tallie admonished. Arm was rubbing his neck while Ben bit his lip, suppressing a smirk. 

“Did you want me to open that?” Ben asked pointing to the wine in Arm’s hand and failing to keep a straight face.

“God, yes.” He said. 

“Tallie, are you having some?” 

“Yes please, just a small one.” 

Arm raised his gingery eyebrows and asked delicately, “Aren’t you still nursing? I read you’re not supposed to drink alcohol when you’re still breastfeeding.” 

“Yes, Armitage,” her tone exasperated. “I expressed breastmilk for daycare, so I have some extra....” 

This conversation included far too much information about breasts that he had no contact with. On the hasty pretence of finding the bottle opener that he knew was in the drawer two feet from the arguing pair, he went to the utility room and stood with the vacuum cleaner and the mop for a few minutes until Tallie called out.

“Ben? Dinners ready.” 

When Ben returned, Arm was flushed and contritely setting the table, while Tallie seemed to be preening. Arm twisted the top of the red wine bottle. 

“You have the emotional range of a fifteen year old boy, do you know that?” she informed him in a stage whisper. 

“Yes, and I am very comfortable with that.” He uttered, pouring three glasses of red wine.

Dinner looked good - Beef Wellington medium-rare with roasted root vegetables and steamed green beans. 

“Arm has been missing English cooking,” Tallie explained. “I’m going to attempt to make a proper English Christmas dinner for Arm’s parents,” she continued. “They’re visiting for Christmas.” 

“I think I hear the girls crying.” Arm said, bouncing towards the guest room. 

“Sit down Arm, they’re fine. If you keep going in there they won’t settle down,” Tallie said, sounding irritated. 

“Fine, fine,” he said, neck still craning towards Ben’s boyhood bedroom, these days repurposed as the guest room. “And, my dear, the term is ‘invading’. My father doesn’t visit, he invades,” he added grimly as he cut his meat. 

The conversation turned to Ben’s Christmas plans, which where sleeping in, spaghetti carbonara, a movies marathon and possibly more sleeping. 

Tallie invited Ben to Christmas but he looked across at Armitage, who was shaking his head vehemently. 

“Save yourself,” he said sardonically. 

“Thanks, Tallie, but Leia might make the trip up.” She hadn’t last year, her people had needed her too much. The needs of the many outweighs the wants of the few. Still, the few wouldn’t have minded to win every once and a while. 

“Treacle tart!” Tallie announced proudly, as she placed the wedge of golden brown down in front of each of them. 

A sharp trill sounded from the kitchen. Ben rose from his seat to answer the phone. 

“Solo.” 

“Sheriff Solo, this is Ken Statura of Denver dispatch. We’ve had a report of an intruder to a domestic dwelling at 77 Dantoonie Road, can you attend?” The dispatcher coolly. That was the Connix’s address - not entirely unexpected. 

“Yes, how many occupants, and who made the call?”

“It was sent by text, and unknown number of occupants. The caller has not responded to calls, text reads ‘someone’s broken into my home please send help’.”

“Understood, on my way,” he said, hanging up. 

“Call out?” Arm asked.

“Yeah. If you want to stay, there’s fresh sheets in the utility room. Go through the entry and hang a left, it’s the first door.” He said, shrugging his coat on. 

He kept his standard issue Glock 9mm locked in an upright gun safe in the mud room. He also took out his own Beretta pump action shotgun, an extra magazine for Glock and two more for the shotgun, dropping them into the pockets on his thighs. He had a bad feeling about this, a prickly sensation across his skin. He’d learned to listen to this instinct, he probably wouldn’t need it but...

As he opened the door to leave, the air from outside rushed in, so cold it was like icy water being poured over his face. He wasted no time getting into the Durango and backing the vehicle out of the garage. He flicked the red and blue lights on when he reached the highway. 

The Connix place was on the opposite side of town, nestled into a valley that couldn’t be seen from the main road. The Queen Anne style house was painted a dark grey with a pretty white trim. Framed by the skeletal trees, it looked like a fairytale house designed by Tim Burton. 

Ben eyes darted towards something moving, white and almost ghostly waving from the upstairs bedroom window, and his skin prickled. It was the lace curtain flapping from the broken window in the top floor of the tower. Beneath it, the sweeping concrete driveway was painted with a long crimson stripe, coming from a crumpled human figure that wasn’t moving. 

Ben parked at the driveway entrance and, taking the shotgun, he hurried towards the house, his eyes scanning for any signs of movement. 

His own breath was coming out in white puffs, but none came from the broken doll-like woman on the ground. Ben crouched and put two fingers to the side of her throat - no pulse ran through her carotid artery and her skin was cool to the touch. 

Colette Connix had been dead for some time. Snowflakes clung to the eyelashes around her blank brown eyes and her long, greying brown hair was flecked with frozen crystals of blood.

“Shit,” he breathed.

Her body lay a good few feet from the building. She hadn’t fallen out of the window - someone had violently thrown her.

Ben looked around again, scanning for any sign of footprints in the snow or any flashes of movement. Any sign of a perpetrator. Nothing. Where the hell were Poe and Kaydel? 

He reached for radio and related Mrs Connix’s death, asking for backup. 

“Deputy Dameron isn’t responding to caller,” the dispatcher replied calmly.

Debating briefly, he replied,“Deputy Dameron could possibly be another casualty.”

“Copy that, be advised backup is thirty minutes away, en route.”

“Copy.”

Ben approached the front porch, checking the sidelines for any sign of them. Everything was quiet, the only sound was the wind in the trees. It would start snowing again soon, and he needed to secure the crime scene as he was losing evidence already. 

Ben eased the front door open and edged cautiously into the foyer, the butt of his shotgun pressed hard into his shoulder. There were no signs of any disturbance as he cleared the sitting room and the dining room. Again, nothing seemed out of place in the kitchen, a solitary meal of chicken noodle soup sat half-eaten on the table. 

A nervous sweat was dampening Ben’s temples, despite the cold. 

He made his way up the staircase - whatever had happened, it had happened up here. A photo had been smashed where it had dropped from the wall to the floor and the landing rugs had been kicked up. Ben could hear a faint sound now. A hissing. 

It was coming from the upstairs bedroom. The lights were off. 

“Estoria Sheriff’s department!” He barked. 

“Ben?” Came a male voice, rasping and barely audible over the shower. His voice was harsh, as though he’d been screaming for hours. As Ben approached, he saw steam rolling into the bedroom from the en suite, and a hand suddenly appeared, clawing at the floor as the man desperately tried to pull himself towards the doorway. 

“Poe?” 

Poe Dameron was crawling on hands and knees, dragging himself towards Ben.

His eyes were swollen shut, a bright scarlet red and so blistered that they almost looked as though they’d melted. As he reached out blindly, Ben saw that Poe’s hands were shiny and streaked with the same kind of burns.

Someone had thrown acid into Poe Dameron’s face. 

“Where’s Kaydel?” The man gasped from his ravaged throat.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was going to let you suffer until Friday but I’m feeling benevolent.

Finn Tico had been up for hours, and it wasn’t even midday yet.

The snow was coming down again in earnest, so the search for Kaydel Connix had been postponed until there was another break in the weather. There had been no news at all of the young woman’s whereabouts, and he’d overheard customers talking about the possibility that Kaydel had finally snapped and murdered her own mother.

Rose was constantly refilling the coffee carafe for the crowd of police and volunteers. Finn was now in the long, stainless steel kitchen, making an extra large batch of buttermilk biscuits to go with the big pot of chicken stew on the stovetop. He pushed the cutter though the dough, hoping that his busy hands would stop him from fretting uselessly. 

He felt a warm weight touch between his shoulder blades. One comforting arm looped around his waist, whilst the other placed a cup of coffee on the counter next to his biscuits.

“Has there been any word yet?” He asked. 

“They’re flying Poe out to Aurora, there’s a burn treatment centre there.” Rose said quietly. 

He turned so Rose now rested her head against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tight as he pressed his lips against the top of her head. 

“Have they found Kaydel yet?” 

Rose shook her head, her black ponytail swishing to and fro, and she tilted her face up to his. Popping up onto her toes, she kissed him softly. 

He sighed. “Rosie babe, I’d much rather take you back to bed, but I got to get these in the oven okay?” He grumbled even though his hands sneaked underneath her sweater to rub against her spine. 

Reluctantly, Rose stepped aside and let him place the tray the oven while she stirred the stew with an enormous wooden spoon.

“Are we taking this over to the hall, or are the volunteers coming here?” She asked.

“They’re coming here.” 

Rose nodded. There was no way they could leave the dinner anyway - it was only them and two other employees, Joseph Lo the kitchen hand and Lily Lovey, their waitress. They were good kids that worked well together, though Joseph could be a bit of a stickler for rules. But at least he knew to wash his hands after he went to the bathroom, which was more than Finn could say about some of their previous employees. 

Lily came to the pass, giving him a weak smile as she spiked a ticket on his wheel. She had a bit of a crush on Poe and her eyes where red. Rose came out of the kitchen and rubbed her back sympathetically. 

“Hang in there, sweetie. Come on, we’ve got people to feed and we need to take care to them,” Rose told her gently. 

Lily nodded, still a bit weepy but she rallied, proffering a watery smile at the next customers. Finn’s attention turned to the tickets: roast pumpkin and arugula linguine and a BLT bagel. 

“Joe, put a portion of the linguine in for me, please!” Finn called across the kitchen. 

“Okay.” The boy dropped the food into the pasta cooker and took the sauce from the fridge, while Finn put the bacon on the hot plate. 

Rose put another ticket on the wheel: three chicken stews. He flipped the bacon then checked the biscuits – still a few minutes away, so he put the bagel on to toast, busily grabbed some lettuce from the cold room and sliced a tomato up.

“How’s the pasta?” Finn asked. 

“Almost ready to plate.” Joe said, tipping the pasta into the sauce. 

“Take the biscuits out, will you?” Finn asked, as he drained his bacon on a paper towel. “Then plate up the pasta. Remember to twirl it, make it pretty.” 

The boy looked across at Finn as he slid the sheet of fluffy high biscuits, a perfect pale gold. Normally Finn wouldn’t let him plate up, but he got to it as Finn assembled the world’s least kosher bagel. Lily put two more tickets on the wheel, and Finn could hear the espresso machine hissing and sputtering in the seating area as he handed the pasta across the pass to a waiting Lily. He downed his cooling coffee before he pulled three bowls down from the shelf. They were going to be slammed.

 

Nickel was a hive of activity and filled to bursting when Rey walked in. What the heck was going on? 

Rose was at the coffee machine, pouring black coffee into a black and silver travel mug, Ben Solo’s cup. She put it next to several Tupperware boxes containing a few foil-wrapped objects, each about the size of a fist. 

“Rose, what’s happened?” 

“Rey, umm I trying to do five things at once here, I don’t have time to explain it,” she said tensely as she loaded the food and coffee into a black basket, marked with the Nickel and Diner logo in silver on the side. 

“Is that for sheriff?” 

“Yeah,” Rose said, looking at the list of coffee orders waiting for her. 

“Perfect.” She snatched it off the counter. Rose grabbed the edge of the basket.

“Please don’t poison him or anything,” she hissed. 

“I make no promises,” Rey stage-whispered back as she pulled the basket from Rose’s grasp. 

As she marched out into the snow, Rey pulled her hood up over her head. It was three blocks in heavy snow to the sheriff’s department office and resentment was the fuel that got her there. The acidic burn in her gut had to find an outlet and that outlet was going to be Ben bloody Solo. 

Somehow he’d interfered with her investigation. Commander Ackbar had refused to even consider her evidence! He wouldn’t contemplate the suggestion of exhuming Han’s body. On the evidence of the test results, she might’ve had a shot at getting Luke’s remains analysed, but she and Leia had already cast Luke’s ashes to the wind over the sea of Ahchto Island. Akbar had informed her that Ben Solo’s alibi was rock solid and there was no evidence that he’d even been contact with his uncle for years, let alone murdered him. Chewie could’ve come into contact with methyl iodide in another way. 

She needed to talk with Poe Dameron again. He hadn’t seemed convinced the first time, but maybe now that he’d had time to think about what she’d said, perhaps he’d be able to help. 

She shoved the door to the sheriff’s office open, letting in a blast of arctic air and making the black haired man at the desk cringe slightly. It wasn’t that particular black-haired head she wanted on a spike, or the one whose help she needed, so she’d just see which side this one fell on. 

“Oh, hey, are you dropping off the lunches?” He asked apprehensively. 

“Where is Ben Solo?” Rey snarled. There was no sign of Poe, so she’d go after that big prick instead. 

“No goddamn way.” The young man said, his dark eyes suddenly steely.

“I beg your pardon?” Rey said in a voice that could’ve scratched a diamond. 

“I don’t know what grievance you have with him, but don’t you dare take it out on him today.” The young man said, his voice trembling a bit at the end.

“Well where the hell is Poe Dameron then? Am I allowed to speak to him?” 

The young man’s shoulders dropped slightly, he looked defeated. 

“What‘s going on out here?” A deep voice asked wearily. 

If Ben had appeared tired the other night, he now looked completely exhausted. The dark circles under his eyes had grown so dark, he almost looked like he had two black eyes. 

Rey Jakku was staring at him and Ben didn’t really have time for her tin foil hat theories, even if the pink in her cheeks made her eyes look a brighter green. 

“Is that my coffee? Thank god,” he said, as he bent to take the basket. He hadn’t stopped since 4:30 am yesterday, when Snap Wexley and Jess Pava’s arrived, just as Poe disappeared into the back of the ambulance. The rest of the night was a blur, securing the scene, making a complete search of the house and grounds but, with all the snow, Kaydel could’ve been a few feet away from him in a pile of snow and he wouldn’t have known until spring.

He’d had search parties out looking for her at six, when the weather had cleared, but it had set in again after eleven, making conditions far too dangerous to continue. 

Poe had struggled to explain what had happened to him, and Amilyn had threatened to knock Ben’s lights out if he if he kept trying to make Poe talk. The damage to the man’s throat was considerable - whatever he’d been burnt with had burned his mouth and throat as he’d inhaled. Luckily the ambulance had arrived on the scene quickly, otherwise the swelling in his throat would have killed him. The shower had also saved his life by reducing the swelling, but he was now also suffering hypothermia. 

Ben reached for the basket but Rey shifted it away. 

“I need that coffee and you’re going to give it to me.” He had meant it to sound quietly threatening but, between the lack of sleep, hunger gnawing in his guts and the realisation of how pretty she looked in her little coat holding her basket of goodies, it somehow came out more silky and suggestive. 

She backed up even further, taking the coffee with her. 

“I’m not giving you anything,” she snarled back. 

Now, normally Ben’s brain would have happily provided a few scenarios as to what he could have done to make her change her mind, but right now all he really wanted was the coffee. 

He made a grab for the basket. Rey smacked his hand away with surprising amount of force. 

Closing in on her, he made another lunge for the basket as she held it away. Rey then dropped it to the floor and kicked it, sending it shooting across the floor. Ben turned to watch his lunch whip past him. Rey seized both his moment of distraction and his wrist, before shouldering him in the side while pulling his knee out from under him with her leg. Ben folded, and landed flat on his back, the back of his head thunking painfully on the floor as she rolled over the top of his shoulder and away from him. She then rose to her feet in a smooth, controlled motion as she scooped up her basket. 

Then Ben Solo asked Rey Jakku a rather unexpected question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you start squeaking about another cliffhanger, I’ll post again very soon. Don’t fret


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit scary at the end not a big cliffhanger, but Rey has a not good night. 
> 
> After this I’m going to be posting three times a week up to Christmas.

“Then he offered me a job!” Rey reported to an incredulous Finn.

“Call me crazy, but maybe you should consider taking him up on it,” Rose said as she emerged from the studio apartment’s tiny kitchenette, carrying three plates of something that smelled delicious. “You know – like, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?” She carefully sidestepped Poe’s corgi, BB, as she walked over to the table. The dog was currently Rose and Finn’s reluctantly-acquired house guest, after Poe’s dad, Kes, had begged them to take him while he was with Poe in Aurora.

After sinking all their money into the diner, a separate apartment hadn’t been an option, so Rose and Finn lived above the eatery, in what used to be extra storage space. They’d tried to convince Rey to stay with them when she’d first arrived but, while it was comfortable and certainly nicer than some of the places Rey had lived, she couldn’t impose on her friends like that. Besides their bed was right next to the couch, and they were newlyweds. The giggles and the whispered ‘Finn, no... she’s only over there!’ at the butt crack of dawn on the second morning after she’d arrived had pressed the need to find somewhere else to stay. There was a limit to how many long walks she could take to give them ‘alone time’, especially in winter - Rey was glad her friends were happy but, my god, they were practically rabbits.

Rose placed the plates in front of Rey and Finn. Finn took a deep, appreciative breath.

“This looks amazing, babe! Thank you,” he said in awe. “Rey, this is Vietnamese caramelised pork. It’s the best thing Rose cooks, and that’s saying something,” he told a concerned-looking Rey.

“It looks delicious, Rose, thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry, but there something I have to ask...”

“Oh, no, no. Finn told me that sesame oil is a trigger for your migraines,” Rose said, pouring Rey a glass of rosé wine. “It’s fine! It’s not even in the recipe,” she reassured.

“Thanks Rose, I’m sorry to be a pain,” Rey said, feeling the all too familiar flush of awkwardness for having to bring it up. It was embarrassing, being one of those people who constantly had to ask about food ingredients – one slip would plunge her into feeling like her skull was being cracked like a boiled egg.

She reached for the water instead of the wine, a headache already lingering at the base of her skull. It was hardly surprising, considering the emotional upset of Luke and Chewie’s deaths so soon after Han’s. She knew it wouldn’t take much to tip her over the edge - a strong perfume, the glare from the snow or even a bad night’s sleep would be enough to trigger a migraine.

“I might give the wine a miss tonight, Rose. But thanks,” she said.

“That can trigger them too,” Finn told Rose, before taking a mouthful of rice off his chopsticks.

Rey hated how having migraines made her feel, as though she was a normal, functioning person with a big switch on the back of head, powerless to stop anything just flicking it on. She’d do anything to avoid the sudden blindness and helplessness that accompanied the crippling pain.

She took a bite of the meat and her taste buds danced - Finn was right, it was phenomenal. Sweet, rich and spicy, the pork belly almost dissolved on her tongue it was so tender. The corgi made a whuffing sound while he begged for food. “Not a chance, fuzzball,” she told him.

Rose’s brown eyes sparkled and her cheeks pinked up prettily as she watched Rey nod and smile with obvious enjoyment.

“I’d marry you too, if you made me this!” she exclaimed to Rose while BB huffed sulkily and slunk back to his monogrammed cushion.

“Peanut, I don’t think you should take that job. It’s too dangerous,” Finn said, still processing what she’d told him earlier.  
“I’m not going to, Finn. I’m not stupid!”  
“I never meant I thought you’d be stupid. Just - you know...” he shrugged. Rey squinted at him.

He swallowed before saying diplomatically, “You do tend to rush into situations without thinking them through sometimes.”

“I do not!” Rey insisted.

Rose snorted indelicately.

“What do you mean *snort*?” Rey asked hotly, recreating Rose’s snort.

“Rey, would you prefer the examples in alphabetical or chronological order?” Rose said dryly  
.  
Finn nodded, his mouth twisting in an apologetic smirk, equal parts I’m sorry and I’m right. He’d definitely got cockier since he had a wife to back him up.

“Jerk,” she muttered, rubbing her neck.

“Who’s going to tell you these things if we don’t?” he shrugged.

“Good point,” Rey conceded. Rose and Finn were the closest thing to a family she had, but they’d closed ranks a little by becoming a couple. Rey knew that it was natural, that Finn and Rose weren’t purposely sidelining her, but the sting was still there.

“Has there been any word of Kaydel or Poe?” Rey asked.

“With the snow like this, it’s not safe to send out search parties at the moment. It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so they’ll head back out then,” Rose said quietly. Seeing Finn’s worried expression, she reached over and squeezed his hand.

“Poe’s pretty heavily medicated and he’s going to need specialist care in a burns unit. His dad’s with him now, Kes is pretty cut up. They lost Poe’s mom to breast cancer when Poe was only fifteen, so they’re really tight.” Finn cleared his throat.

“Why was he even at the Connix’s anyway?” Rey asked.

“Well, it’s pretty common knowledge now - he was having a secret relationship with Kaydel. Her mother went kinda nuts after Kaydel’s dad left her for the high school drama teacher, a male drama teacher. She more or less has... had, Kaydel under house arrest,” Rose told Rey in a conspiratorial tone.

“How old is Kaydel?” Rey asked, feeling a little ill.

“Oh no! It wasn’t like that. She’s twenty-six,” Rose reassured her.

“The way people talked about her, I thought she was younger.”

“Well, Poe used to get around a bit, you know, but apparently he met her when he got a call about Mrs Connix going after the meter reader with a baseball bat,” Finn interjected.

Rey frowned at Rose. “A Baseball bat?”

“Oh yeah, she was nuttier than squirrel shit,” Rose said dryly, before continuing with her little tale. “Anyway, Poe was hooked at first sight. Personally, I think he has a hero complex - he’s always looking for a princess to impress.”

Finn had a weird expression on his face, then hunched towards them and almost whispered, “Don’t say anything to anyone, but Poe told me Kaydel might be pregnant.”

“Why are you whispering, dummy? Who do you think is going to overhear us?” Rose whacked the back of his hand with a napkin.  
Finn looked embarrassed.

Rey rubbed the back of her neck as she watched the snow tumbling down outside. The poor girl. If Kaydel was pregnant, it sounded like her batty mother could have gone completely berserk if she found out. Could she have just snapped and pushed her own mother out of the window? No, she chided herself, it wasn’t her case and she shouldn’t try and make theories without hard facts.

“Rey, no,” Finn was shaking his head, clearly worried.

“What?” Rey said warily, as Finn reached across to squeeze gently on her lower arm.

“I know that look, Rey. You’re going to investigate this aren’t you?”

Rey shoved a spoonful of rice and Nashi pear salad in her mouth, she hadn’t quite got the hang of chopsticks yet.

“Rey?”

“No... look, I’m here to find out who murdered my friends...” Rey said defensively, “but, come on, I find it pretty suspicious that I tell Poe I think Ben Solo has something to do with Luke and Han’s deaths, and next thing he’s in the hospital, his girlfriend is missing and a woman’s been murdered.”

Rose gave her a look.

“What? Why the look?” Rey protested.

“If you’re so suspicious of Ben Solo why did you go on a date with him?” Rose asked slyly, casually throwing Rey underneath a bus. Finn’s horrified eyes were so wide, she could see the all the white surrounding his dark brown irises.

“That was not a date,” Rey ground out.

She glared at Rose’s smirk at the same time Finn squawked, “You’re dating him!?”

“Will you please calm down?” Rey begged. She really didn’t need Finn to have one of his trademark meltdowns.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve hatched up some hare-brained idea to entrap him!” he pleaded.

Rose, looking incredibly entertained by this exchange, interjected, “Come on, you were at Takodana’s, looking very cozy with Ben. Nice work, by the way - you’ve only been in town five minutes and you’ve had a date with him. Jess Pava’s going to scratch your eyes out. She’s been after him for ages.”

Rey sneered at Rose. “That wasn’t a cozy meal, trust me.”

“You got to admit that he’s hot, through right?” Rose pressed.  
“No way!” Finn and Rey shrieked in unison, although Finn’s was more convincing than Rey’s, and higher pitched.

Rose smirked so hard, Rey was concerned her face might freeze in that position permanently.

Finn looked from one woman to the other, taking in the pink flush dusting Rey’s cheeks. Rose had a sixth sense about this kind of thing, she never got it wrong.

Finn turned towards Rey. “You think he’s hot? The murderer?” he asked, not wanting believing it.

“Nooo, don’t be stupid,” scoffed the pink-cheeked Rey. Finn looked to Rose, who simply cocked a knowing eyebrow. The expression must’ve spoken volumes to Finn, and he switched his attention back to Rey and stared until she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

“He’s got nice hair,” she eventually admitted, “and pretty eyes,” she muttered, rubbing a self-conscious hand over her jaw.

“What was that?”

“She said he has ‘pretty eyes’,” Rose supplied helpfully, not bothering to suppress her snickering. Finn clapped both hands over his face.

“Oh, my giddy aunt!” he wailed. This was about as close as Finn got to swearing.

“Piss off, you git!” Rey fumed, rolling her shoulders against the tension building there.

With the headache tightening across the nape of her neck, Rey feigned tiredness and made excuses to go once she’d finished her meal. She drove back to her motel and by the time she got into her crappy room she’d already started seeing tiny meteor showers of white light streaking towards her. The vision was nowhere near as pretty as it sounded, when coupled with the feeling of someone pressing their thumbs into the flesh behind her eyes.

Rey only just made into the bathroom before the first wave of nausea hit her. Her temples felt as though they were being squeezed together, and she fought the impulse to clench her aching jaw against the fresh wave of pain. Breathe deeply, she told herself sternly, don’t vomit, don’t you dare, it’ll make it a thousand times worse.

She had to get her tablets. Rey stumbled into the dark room to reach the bathroom cabinet and fumbled with the lid of the small bottle on the counter. She picked out two pills and swallowed them with water straight from the faucet. The sound of the water running within the confines of the little bathroom seemed unbearably loud, and she winced as she knelt down by the bathroom sink to rest before her next big effort: crawling into bed on her hands and knees with her eyes closed.

This is a really bad one, she thought.

Rey stripped down to her thermal underwear and curled up in the fetal position under the covers, hoping the medicine would knock her out quickly. Within a few minutes she felt groggy and the pain was already easing. This is happening a bit quickly - much faster than normal, she thought as she slipped into a soft black place...

Someone was screaming. She awoke to terrible, loud, inhuman screaming. Somebody yanked at her hips, hard enough to drag her a few inches across the floor. Her head swimming, she reached out to oust whoever was trying to drag her, but she couldn’t feel any hands or arms - no one was there. She lifted her heavy head up, and didn’t understand what she was looking at for a moment: teeth. The nightmarish vision appeared to have many rows of teeth, and they viciously yanked her towards them again...

 

Ben was completely drained, he shouldn’t have been driving. He parked the Durango in the garage but, just as he climbed out, he heard Han’s wood chipper starting up in the work shed. What the fuck was going on? Ben ran out of the garage and around the side of the house, plowing madly and scrambling through the snow, as he followed the loud, metallic screeching that was mixing sickeningly with the chilling screams of a woman.

He kicked the door twice, feeling it split, but it didn’t break. Ben backed up and shoulder-charged the door, the latch broke and the door violently flew open to reveal Rey on the upper workshop level.

She had a rope tied around her waist and was now being dragged towards the grinding wood chipper on the garage level below. Ben immediately slammed his palm onto the control button to shut it down. It took her a moment to stop screaming. The sudden silence seemed to shock her back into a reprieve, and then her tears started falling as she tried desperately to free herself.

“Rey!” Ben climbed the stairs three at a time and crouched down to untie the rope around her waist, his shaking fingers working quickly but gently.

He carefully pulled her sobbing body onto his lap. “You’re safe, sweetheart. I’m here,” he breathed into her hair. “I swear you’re okay now,” he soothed, continuing to mumble soft reassurances as he cradled and rocked her like a small child in his overwhelming need to comfort her.  
Rey sobbed into his coat, her breathing ragged against the exposed part of his throat. Her tears cooled rapidly against his palm as he brushed them from her cheek; in his other hand was his gun. His eyes warily scanned the room, seeing nothing but his dad’s carpentry tools and old saws from his tree surgeon job. Whoever brought Rey here hadn’t waited around to see her gory final moments.

Still kneeling and holding Rey, he scooted until his back was against the wall, whispering, “You’re safe now sweetheart, I promise.”

Rey was now almost hyperventilating, sucking in huge gasping breaths as she trembled in shock and fear. Ben shucked off his coat and wrapped it around her as she was only wearing thermals and her feet were bare. She was going to get frostbite if he didn’t get her inside soon.

He slid his hands beneath her shoulders and knees and picked her up. She clung to his shoulders with something more than fear as he carried her limp, shaking body inside. At first he wasn’t sure where to put her - the main fireplace was out and the one in his bedroom, a much smaller room, would heat it up quickly but he doubted that waking up in his bed would leave a good impression on Rey.

He decided that the guest room would have to do. Ben laid her on the couch while he switched on the electric blanket and turned down the sheets, then tucked her into bed. Her pulse was steady, as was her breathing, but it was plainly obvious that she’d been drugged.

He took out his cell phone and made a call.


	9. Chapter 9

Rey woke up in a much nicer bed than the one in which she’d fallen asleep.

 

This bed had smooth, heavy sheets and a thick creamy white comforter that felt as though it was made of clouds. The ceiling above her was high - white and smooth, with not a hint of nasty old cottage cheese-looking stucco in sight. She raised her head from the plump pillow and looked around, observing the tastefully painted walls in their pale, warm hue of grey, intermittently punctuated by pillars of natural stacked stone.

 

The headache was still there, but the curtains were drawn so at least she was spared the head-spearing sensation of glaringly bright daylight.

 

Rey’s skin prickled. Where the hell was she? She also realised she wasn’t alone - Ben Solo was laying on the couch. His black hair was tousled across his pillow and his wide full lips slightly parted as he drew in deep slow breaths.

 

“Good morning,” a feminine voice said.

 

The owner of the voice was in her early sixties, with dark brown hair greying at the temples and a smile that was, Rey felt silly thinking it, beautific.

 

“He’s somewhat protective,” she explained as she followed Rey’s gaze, speaking softly so as not to awaken the slumbering man. “A family trait.”

 

“I’m Harriet Kalonia. I’m a doctor. How are you feeling, Ms Jakku?”

 

“Hungover. Where am I?” Rey croaked. The doctor poured her a glass of water from a carafe on the bedside table.

 

“We’re in Ben’s house. What do you remember from last night?”

 

Rey sat up in bed and accepted the glass with a slightly shaky hand, everything still felt foggy. Normally after a migraine she felt an odd combination of woolly heaviness and buzzing endorphins. This just felt like she could slip back into sleep.

 

“Not really...” There was something, though - teeth? And being carried? Though which one came first she wasn’t sure.

 

“I’ve taken some of your blood to analyse. I believe you’ve been drugged with something much stronger than your normal migraine medication but, for now, you should rest,” she said, taking the glass back.

 

Even the effort of sitting up had made Rey’s head spin and having Ben Solo laying a few feet away, especially while she could barely walk, wasn’t comforting. The nice doctor followed her glare again.

 

“If Ben was going to hurt you, he would done it by now and he certainly wouldn’t have called me to be a witness,” she said gently.

 

Rey supposed that made sense, right? She felt so drained, and thinking felt like trying to grab a fistful of smoke. It was quiet in this beautiful bedroom and the blankets bestowed a warm, pleasant weight on her.

 

“I’m not going anywhere, Ms Jakku, so please get some sleep.” Rey lay back down in surrender, knowing when to give in - the room was spinning badly now. If she got out of bed, she would likely fall on her arse. She closed her eyes as the doctor left the room, reopening them only when the door closed.

 

Ben Solo was still asleep, laying on his back and emitting a soft puffing sound with each exhale. One of his arms lay across his stomach, the other was thrown carelessly over his head. She contemplated him, thinking he didn’t really look like Han, with his sloping jaw and black hair.

 

Ben rolled over onto his side and she noticed the curve of one of his very prominent ears sticking out through his longish hair. He wore it longer than most cops she’d known, obviously this was why. She didn’t want to see this little bit of humanity in him, it was easier for him to be a monster. A dark hulking wraith, but wraiths and monsters shouldn’t have ears that stick out like VW bug with its doors open.

 

Rey just didn’t understand why would Ben murder his father. Han was grumpy and gruff but he’d had such a soft heart underneath all his blustering and bravado. She blinked back the hot tears that threatened to spill.

 

Months ago, she’d been so desperate to escape that she’d sunk low enough to break into his car, out of utter desperation. He’d been kind and taken her to Leia, he’d even flown her to Luke on the island and, even though her time on Ahchto hadn’t gone the way she’d imagined, she was still grateful to Han and Leia for sending her there. She had to find out what had happened to them.

 

She rolled over so she didn’t have to look at Ben any longer, but she felt vulnerable with her back to him so she rolled back again to keep an eye on him. His relaxed expression shifted - his eyebrows drew together as he flinched violently. Was he dreaming?

 

Ben Solo was standing in the office of his old commander, Alistair Snoke. It was late, and the window shades were drawn, diffusing the red neon lights brazenly issuing from across the street. Ben didn’t know why Snoke had insisted that he’d come in to see him, it made no sense. If he was seen, the whole investigation would crash and burn - for what, exactly?

 

It wasn’t exactly easy to blend in at 6’3, and he’d ended up being smuggled into the precinct in the trunk of an unmarked car. Now, he’d been left waiting an hour for this megalomaniacal fucker. Ben paced the office, his eyes drawn to a cardboard box sat in the middle of Snoke’s desk - was that what this bullshit was all about? What the hell was in the box?

 

Snoke came shuffling in slightly, obviously in pain, and slumped heavily into his chair. The man’s body might’ve been fucked, but the mind behind those icy blue eyes was sharp as a razor’s edge.

 

“My boy, how have you been?”

 

Really? A social call? This was what he’d been dragged in for? And Ben didn’t really appreciate being referred to as ‘my boy’ either.

 

“Fantastic,” he deadpanned. Snoke proceeded to talk about being undercover in Ukrainian death gang, making it sound as if he’d spent his day at the presidential Easter egg hunt.

 

The ugly scar on Snoke’s cheek twisted in a way that could’ve been a smile, once. Now, it was just a cruel mockery of mirth. Ben had been impressed with Snoke years ago, with the man’s arrest and conviction rates, and the remarkable dive the crime rate had taken in his precinct but, over the years, Ben had seen things that had him questioning his mentor’s methods.

 

“A token!” Snoke gestured towards the box with a flourish. “I thought it might act as a reminder of my expectations for you.”

 

Ben took out the small drop point knife he kept in the waistband at the small of his back, sliding it though the tape and flipping open the cardboard flaps. Under rolled-up balls of newspaper was a human skull, its creamy white bone stained yellow in places with age.

 

“Is this evidence..?” he asked, staring into the hollow eye sockets of the skull. There was something about this skull, something that was causing a sensation like a fission over his skin...almost like a recognition.

 

“No, it’s the head of Anakin Khyodyashski,” Snoke said softly, and the reverence in his voice chilled Ben to the bone. “Your Grandfather.”

 

If only it was a fucking nightmare. It was a memory.

 

Ben woke with a start, his back stiff and sore. He should have listened to Harri - sleeping on the couch instead of his bed was stupid.

 

While Rey was still out for the count, he’d gone to the shitty room she’d been staying in at The Pines Motel. The door had been left unlocked and her things were still there, by some minor miracle. He’d looked through her handbag and found a prescription for something he was way too tired to try and pronounce, and he’d come across an empty bottle on the bathroom counter. He’d grabbed everything and stuffed it all haphazardly into her suitcase. He couldn’t let her stay here - he’d figure it out later, but she wasn’t staying here a moment longer. Ben had looked the room over to see if he’d missed anything, before pausing at the bedside table, and he’d pulled out both drawers to find a plastic bag containing a notebook taped to the bottom of one of them.

 

“Sneaky, sweetheart,” he’d muttered. “But not sneaky enough.”

 

He’d checked underneath the other drawers, nothing. Ben didn’t open the bag, making the assumption that it probably contained her evidence against him. He didn’t know whether or not he wanted to know what she had on him but, after staring at it for a minute, he just stuffed it into the suitcase with the rest of her shit.

 

Now, sitting up on the couch, he looked at the cheap purple suitcase. What did she have on him that had her so convinced that he was a killer?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of potential triggering stuff in the this chapter. We find out what has happened to Kaydel. If you are a person who needs spoilers read the note at the end.

When Rey awoke again, it was past midday and the sofa no longer harboured a great big slumbering arsebadger. 

Rey sat up and assessed how she felt. She was a lot less muddled than before, but still a bit light-headed with a faint headache still nagging at her skull. She was relieved to notice that her hands were quite steady as she picked up the glass of water left on the bedside table for her. 

After drinking two glasses, she was ready to get out of bed and locate the bathroom. Rey felt slightly sweaty and - was that sawdust in her hair? She looked at the sheets and winced at the dirty marks on the pristine white sheets. 

“Hello again,” a feminine voice said from the doorway. It was the doctor from the night... day? before. Rey wasn’t even sure what day it was. 

“I’m Dr Kalonia, in case you don’t remember our conversation this morning. Please call me Harri, if you like. How are you feeling?” She asked. 

“Better, still a little foggy. Is it still Sunday, and did you tell me this was Ben Solo’s house?” 

“Yes, it’s Ben’s home. He grew up here.” She checked her watch before adding, “and it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday. Would you like something to eat?” Harri asked. Holy crap, she’d been out for seventeen hours. 

“Well yes, but I’d like shower and change my clothes first.” 

“Of course, Ben brought your things here,” she said, pointing out the suitcase next to the couch. 

“He rifled though my room?” Rey yelped in indignation. She unzipped the suitcase to find everything she owned stuffed inside, her notebook sitting on the top. Rey started pulling clothes, underwear and shoes out. 

“No, I sent him to your motel to see if there was any sign of what you might’ve been given, and he brought your things here so they wouldn’t be stolen. That motel is a complete rat trap, the sooner it closes down, the better.” Harri muttered. 

Rey hadn’t chosen The Pines because she thought it was safe, she’d stayed there because she didn’t want to waste her limited budget on accommodation.

She’d been through all the pockets in the suitcase and her purse and realized her handgun and phone were missing. That utter bastard.

“Did you find what you needed?” Harri asked. Rey struggled to maintain a calm, relaxed facade, still furious but managing to arrange her features in a pleasant expression as she nodded at the doctor, not quite trusting her voice at the moment.

She quietly took out a change of clothes, her toiletries and her little bag of lady supplies.

“He found an empty medication bottle for Dolased in your room, it that your normal medication?” Harri asked delicately. “Is it possible you may have taken more than you should have?”

Rey shook her head vehemently.

“No, I know that I only took two, the bottle should have been half full. I was prescribed Dolased before I went to the island, I’ve only had to take them a few times,” she explained.

Rey followed Harri down the hallway, past two closed doors and out into a large combined living, dining room and kitchen. Like the bedroom, the walls were a mixture of striking raw slate and beautiful, smooth cream plaster, vaulted by high ceilings. A long, tan leather couch sat in front of a fireplace of stacked stone, but this was no rustic log cabin - this was modern and stylish, whilst retaining an air of calm serenity. Daylight flooded into the spacious room through huge windows, showcasing beautiful views of the mountains and forest outside. This place was architectural pornography.

Harri acquired a fluffy white towel from a large cupboard and directed Rey to the bathroom. She opened the door to reveal a stunning dark grey, almost black, bathroom. A skylight over the shower area provided most of the illumination in the room, the matte stone walls drinking in the light and giving the room an almost cave-like feel. 

“Take all the time you need. There’s a bathtub on the other side of the shower.” 

What did she mean ‘the other side of the shower’? But Harri had shut the door behind her. Rey looked around the room – there was a long cabinet against one wall housing a black bowl-like sink, but nothing that looked like a shower or a tub. 

As she stepped towards the wall, she spotted a matte black lever and a slight decline in the floor, with a thin drain running along the bottom of the wall, almost indistinguishable from the floor tile. She looked up to see if there was showerhead over it, but only saw clear blue sky. It must breathtaking to look up at the stars while showering, she thought enviously. Rey turned the lever and water instantly poured out of the wall like a waterfall. Rich people were weird - why spend this much money to make a shower look nothing like a shower? 

Also, where was the bathtub? Harri had said it was behind the shower. As Rey walked along the shower wall, she realised that there was a gentle curve to it and it didn’t join the other wall, leaving an opening that wasn’t immediately obvious. 

It was light on the side, a floor-to-ceiling window offered an outstanding view of the snowy woods outside. This side had much lighter grey tiles, which made her feel as though she were standing out in the open. Rey relished the thought of sinking into a hot bath in this beautiful setting.

She double-checked that the door was locked before she opened her bag of lady supplies. Safely hidden inside the tampax carton was a tiny, flat memory card. It was remarkable how many people, believing they’d found something important, would stop looking completely; you could bank money on the fact that 99% percent of men would run a mile from anything menstruation-related. 

It wasn’t Rey’s only copy - she had everything saved online in a cloud, and she’d given the password to Leia in case anything happened to her. At least Leia would have the evidence she’d painstakingly gathered. 

I’m sneakier than you think, sweetheart, she thought as she smirked. 

Rey left the bathroom forty minutes later, feeling no guilt whatsoever about having used Ben Solo’s fancy pants shampoo and conditioner. He actually had a lotion called ‘Hair Perfector’, the conceited douche, but she had to admit that her hair now felt ridiculously soft and it wasn’t at all frizzy, even after she dried it with his scary sci-fi hair dryer with the hole in it. 

When she finally left the bathroom, Harri was sitting on the couch watching ‘Antiques Roadshow’.

“Feeling better?”

“Yes, thank you. Sorry I took so long,” Rey apologised.

“I’ve seen that bathroom - I’d take my time too,” she said conspiratorially. “It’s mostly Ben’s handiwork, you know. He remodelled it after he came back home, said he couldn’t fit in the bathtub any more. Hungry?” Harri asked. 

He made that beautiful space? 

“Is tomato soup okay?” Harri asked, after surveying the contents of Ben’s pantry. While her godson wasn’t exactly living on convenience food, a few more green vegetables in his diet would be a good idea - before he succumbed to scurvy, she noted wryly.

“That sounds good,” Rey said. 

Harri quietly set about heating up the soup. She had promised Ben that she wouldn’t ask Rey any questions without him being present. He had been very clear about that. At any rate, from what he’d told her about the night before, she was extremely fortunate Ben arrived home when he did. 

 

Ben was wondering why the fuck he ever came home to freeze his ass off in Colorado. Las Vegas had been warm, at least it had that going for it. The desert was beautiful in some places, the Valley of Fire was his favourite place in Vegas. When the job got too much, he’d go on hikes there - a far cheaper and considerably more therapeutic outlet than just punching a hole in the wall of his apartment block’s elevator. He straightened his back, taking a momentary break from the fruitless search for Kaydel and looked out at the beautiful, almost monochromatic, valley below. Vegas wasn’t home. 

“Echo Sierra Romeo base, calling Echo Sierra Delta one, Ben? Come in, Ben,” the radio chirped. 

He stuck his hand up, giving the signal for Thanisson and Ematt to stop. Crystal Nerro gave his call sign again as Ben pulled his black helmet off. 

“Echo Sierra Delta one receiving, Ben here. What’s the matter, Crystal?” He puffed into the receiver as he pulled his scarf away from his mouth. 

“Ben be advised... Poe’s awake and asking for you,” the disembodied feminine voice said. 

“Copy that Crystal, stand by,” he said, his breath white in the biting cold. 

Mr Ematt took off his helmet, revealing hair almost as white as the snow. He was the most experienced person of the volunteer search parties, and older than dirt. Tom Thanisson, on the other hand, looked about fifteen. 

“Mr Ematt, I got to head back in.” Ben could never quite bring himself to call his former high school math teacher by his first name, nor would the old curmudgeon dream of offering the informal address. 

“We can keep searching this quadrant, but I doubt she’d have made it out this far. I’ll keep an eye on the boy,” he told Ben gravely. 

“You do realise I’m twenty-eight, right?” Tom drawled. 

Both men chose to ignore him.

Ben bit his lip, Mr Ematt was right. It didn’t appear that Kaydel had taken anything with her to indicate she was going to be out in the snow, but she hadn’t been seen in town either. He hadn’t wanted to put the APB out on Kaydel but, with her mother’s death, it still wasn’t apparent whether she was a victim or the perpetrator. He handed the radio to Mr Ematt. 

“No heroics, just finish up the quadrant and come in,” he said to his former teacher, who simply raised a chiding eyebrow in response. 

He started the snowmobile and turned to head back to town. Poe was awake and he might finally get some answers for a frantic Mr Connix. Dolp had managed to locate the man yesterday. He and his fiancé had flown into Denver this morning and were driving over now. 

He accelerated through the fresh powder, sending it flying into the air in a white plume. Fuck, he hoped Poe had something for him, because right now he had a whole lot of nothing. Mrs Connix’s autopsy hadn’t provided anything, except for confirming that Colette had died from the impact of falling from a second storey window onto concrete. The other forensic tests weren’t back yet, and nothing had obviously been taken from the house. Ben’s gut told him that this was unlikely to be a break-in. He was sure he was dealing with an abduction and he’d contacted the FBI, raising the possibility of a kidnapping but, for the moment, the two Connix women were being treated as a missing person and a murder. 

After another ten minutes, he’d made it back to the volunteer search and rescues base, a hall on the edge of town, wasting no time checking in and then driving on to his office to make a phone call. He dialled Poe’s number, Kes picked up. 

“Ben?”

“Hey, Kes. How is he?” Kes Dameron sounded like a wreck, his voice rough and scratchy from lack of sleep. He’d spent the last two nights watching over his only child - it didn’t make any difference how old Poe was, he was still his baby boy. 

“He’s awake. He’s not allowed to talk just yet,” the older man’s voice wavered. He cleared his throat and spoke again, “but he needs to talk to you.” 

“Okay, Kes, but it’s going to be an official interview, which means I have record it. We’re going to use Skype.”

“What’s that? Do you attach something to the phone, or is it one of those Apple things?” Kes asked, sounding baffled. 

Ben had a brief flashback of Han’s confusion when Ben had tried to teach him to text. It had not gone well. With Han and Ben’s useless great sausage fingers, it was easier to make a phone call. 

“Kes, you still there?” He asked. He could hear a rustling of sheets and groaning.

“Yes, Ben. Poe... now son, just calm down...”

“Sorry, Kes. Look, I’m going to set up a face-to-face interview over the internet. I just need to organise a laptop, okay?” 

After a phone call to the local PD and the hospital administration, a laptop was found and installed in Poe’s room. As the Skype dink-dank-donk sound finished, Ben was treated to a close-up viewing of Kes’s nostrils, which he could have happily done without.

“Kes, move back from the screen!” Ben pleaded. Kes Dameron looked like an older version of his son, or maybe it was more correct to say that Poe was the spitting image of his father. Whatever, Ben was too exhausted to overthink it. Kes’s thick hair was a stately mixture of steely grey and silver, his hooded eyes had darker circles beneath them.

“Ben, he’s delayed taking his pain medication so he can keep a clear head for this...” he warned. 

“I’ll keeping it as brief as possible, okay?” Kes backed away to reveal a heavily bandaged Poe sitting up in a hospital bed, wearing pyjamas in a deep wine colour.

“Hey, Poe, listen - just nod or shake your head, okay?” Ben said. 

A female voice interjected, “I’m sorry but that would be very painful for Mr Dameron at the minute. Perhaps he could move his feet instead?” 

“Okay, that’ll do. Move the computer back so I can see his feet. Poe, right for ‘yes’, left for ‘no’, do you understand?”

“He said yes, Ben,” Kes said, as the view in the screen widened. Ben started the recording, stating his name and getting everyone present to identify themselves. With the official stuff out of the way, Ben got straight to it. 

“There’s no nice way of saying this, Poe. Mrs Connix is dead, she was thrown out the window, and Kaydel is missing. Did you push Mrs Connix?” Kes had sagged in his seat, but now sat back up in outrage. Poe’s left foot raised up. 

“Did Kaydel?”

Left foot raised again. 

“We got a text saying that there was an intruder in the Connix house. Were you attacked first?” Ben asked. 

Right foot this time. 

“Did you see who attacked you?”

Left this time. Ben bit down on his lip to hold back the string of swearing that threatened to spill out of him. This would end up having to rely on evidence after all. 

“Did you see who took her?”

Left foot. 

“Fuck!” Ben spat. 

Screw them, they could beep it out in court. 

 

There wasn’t much of use in the cabin.

Kaydel had been through it, top to bottom. Four times. Two full rolls of duct tape, a stack of newspapers and blankets, that was it - nothing that could be used as a weapon.

She figured she was being held in some kind of hunting shack or out-building, the small cabin was weather-proofed and heated with a radiator. It was too much to hope that they would’ve given her a wood heater instead - she could have used that to make a signal fire. The door was heavy and the only window was narrow and set high on the wall. But even if she did manage to get outside, then what? She had no idea where she was.

He'd provided her with a rough camp kitchen with a tap, and a microwave and fridge, both of which were secured to the floor. At least the fridge was stocked with meals and there was instant coffee and long life milk, so she wasn’t likely to die of starvation. The cups, plates and cutlery were plastic, all of it useless. 

There was nothing to distract her from thinking about Poe and the baby and, looking around the room hopelessly again, she rubbed her stomach as though she could comfort her child, even if it was only the size of a pea. God please let it be okay, please please. She recalled the spearing white pain that had knocked her out and prayed that the trauma hadn’t robbed her of her baby. She’d only just dropped off that night, and Poe’s screams had awoken her from her fitful slumber. ‘Let him be okay, please just let him be all right’, she thought for probably the thousandth time. 

When she was a little girl, she’d dreamt of dashing prince on horseback coming to rescue her. But this was no Disney fairytale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaydel and her baby are going to be okay, I think I’ve rained enough horror on the poor woman, I wouldn’t take her baby as well. I post again on Thursday. Have a great week!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is going to be nicer to him from now on I promise. ;)

 

Ben wearily arrived home, drained from his distressing conversation with Anthony Connix.

 

Kaydel’s father was a willowy man in his fifties with silver hair, thinning on top. Anxiety and exhaustion sharpened his narrow features, his tired hazel eyes desperately needed good news - Ben had had to look into their anguished depths and tell him it was highly likely that his daughter had been kidnapped. The man was understandably devastated and his fiancé, Kenny Deeto, had sat with his arm around him, rubbing circles against the man’s lower back. He’d been Ben’s drama and english teacher during his freshman year in high school, before the scandal of their relationship broke out. They were an odd pair - Mr Connix was tall, thin and fastidious, while Mr Deeto was short with bright blue eyes and the air of ‘hold my beer and watch this’, but they were clearly devoted to each other.

 

Father and daughter had recently reconnected when Poe had given Kaydel a cell phone, together with her father’s number. Hoping somehow Kaydel might still have it, and he’d called her a dozen times praying that he could talk to her, to no avail. Mr Connix had also informed Ben that Kaydel suffered from agoraphobia, a crippling fear of open spaces, which might have helped explain her reluctance to leave her mother.

 

 

As Ben pulled into his garage, he wondered what he’d find this time - almost anything would be better than last night. The mere memory of Rey’s screams made Ben’s blood run cold.

 

Harri came to greet him in the mud room.

 

“Hi, Harri. Is she even still here?” Ben asked, as he shed his coat and boots.

 

Harri leant against the doorway, arms crossed. “She is still here, and recovering. I don’t know how much she remembers about what happened, and she seems a little on edge. So mind your manners, young man,” she told him, punctuating the admonition with a nose bop.

 

“I’m a little on edge too, Harri,” he muttered, then felt ashamed at how petulant that made him sound.

 

“I know the stress on you is enormous right now, Ben, but be gentle with her. She’s a victim here,” Harri pleaded, making Ben feel like an even bigger asshole. Of course she wasn’t to blame for this. He just had to control his sarcasm and hope that she would hear him out.

 

“I, on the other hand, am going home,” Harri sighed.

 

Clasping her hand, Ben uttered a tired, “Thanks, Harri. I owe you one.”

 

“You owe me several,” she informed him wryly.

 

He followed Harri back inside to locate Rey, finding her curled up in one of the chairs on either side of the couch. Her hair was loose, flatteringly framing her face with glossy chestnut waves, and she wore a red and navy Fair Isle sweater with navy leggings that she might’ve been poured into. Ben noticed her personable expression rapidly hardening as she spotted him. He had to be insane or stupid to think she’d go for his brilliant plan, but he didn’t really have a better one.

 

“Play nice, you two,” Harri warned, as she pulled on her coat.

 

“You’re going?” Rey asked, suddenly sitting up anxiously.

 

“Yes my dear, you’re going to be fine.” Harri reassured. “Talk to him, he’s promised to behave himself, haven’t you Ben?” She said as she turned towards Ben, her expression steely.

 

Honestly, the way people talked to him, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a teenaged delinquent, instead of thirty. He truly felt like a thirteen year old trying to bridge the huge chasm between Rey and himself, he mused as he rubbed his slightly sweaty palms on the legs of his pants.

 

“Hi,” he said, sitting down on the couch. “How are you feeling?” He hoped the concern would be obvious in his voice as he really wanted her to know that he was worried about her, and wasn’t being some kind of over-confident prick trying to chat her up. He noticed that she’d pulled her sleeves down over her hands and she played with the hem of the sweater.

 

“I’m fine,” she answered crisply, and Ben couldn’t help but feel like he’d lost even more of her trust.

 

“Do you remember what happened last night?” He asked gently.

 

“Not really,” she said, as she shifted away from him slightly.

 

“Well, I found you in my dad’s workshop. If you’d be willing to go back there, it could prompt your memory. How do you feel about that?” he asked, with hesitance.

 

“How do I feel about that?” she repeated coldly. “Well, I woke up in your house and I was told I wasn’t allowed to leave. That I had to wait for you to come home, so you could question me. And what have you done my phone and gun?”

 

“You had a gun?”

 

“I had a Sig Sauer P225, stainless steel with a black grip in my purse.”

 

“You kept a gun unsecured in your purse? Where hell do you think you are? Detroit?” Ben snarled.

 

“I’m a private investigator, I have a concealed weapons permit and I keep a biometric trigger lock on it,” Rey said, obviously annoyed by Ben’s attitude.

 

“A fingerprint activated lock! Well, a fat lot of good that is when you’re unconscious!” Ben sneered at her.

 

“You do realise that I wasn’t planning on being unconscious?” she said scathingly.

 

Ben hung his head. This was getting him nowhere.

 

“I’m sorry, can we just try not to rip each other apart for just a few minutes? I didn’t find a handgun in your room,” he protested. Rey opened her mouth to say something that would no doubt be caustic, but Ben interjected. “Search the house if you want, okay! Here’s my keys. I didn’t take your gun or phone. Who ever brought you here probably took them.” He slowly retrieved his keys from his pocket and put them on the coffee table.

 

“I understand that you don’t trust me, so here’s my suggestion: there’s a gun safe in the mud room, if it makes you feel more comfortable,” he swallowed. This wasn’t one of his better ideas, but he continued anyway. “Take whatever you want, okay?” She was clenching her jaw again - probably not a good sign.

 

Stifling a sigh, he added, “You can put me in handcuffs, whatever makes you feel safe.” She eyed him warily. “Look, I’m going lay on the floor - put the cuffs on me, then we can go down to the workshop and maybe you’ll remember what happened. Okay?” With that, Ben stood up from his chair and lay down on the floor of his own house, like fucking criminal.

 

Rey watched him lay face down on the floor, hands stretched away from his body and feet wide apart. It was a mind-fuck. He was doing this so she’d be too embarrassed to handcuff him. Did he think he could play on some instinct to soothe and shy away from confrontation? Well, she’d show him.

 

She took his keys off the table and, keeping her distance from him, slipped through the kitchen and into the mud room. With one eye on his prone figure, she unlocked the gun safe, and inside she found his 9mm glock, a S&W 40, a taser, a shotgun and an old but well cared-for rifle. She took the glock, since it was the gun she was most familiar with from her time at LVPD.

 

Returning to the living room, she nimbly took his handcuffs from the holster on his belt.

 

“Could you get my boots too, please?” he asked, so she picked up them up and threw them in front of him with as much ill grace as she could muster. “Right. Put them on,” she demanded, training the gun on him as he cautiously sat up and slid his feet into his boots.

 

Rey stepped closer. “Hold out your hands,” she ordered, and he obeyed, holding his massive arms out towards her. She’d thought about putting Ben Solo in handcuffs before but the reality of it felt nothing like her imagined scenario, and the spike of pleasure she experienced as she clicked the cuffs around his warm, thick wrists was a lot different to the feeling she’d expected. She looked up to find him watching her, and his big coffee-coloured eyes weren’t angry, he looked... focused.

 

A ferocious blush threatened to creep up her neck from her belly - the sooner she got outside, where the cold could be blamed for her rosiness, the better.

 

“Show the way,” she said as she gestured to the back door leading out to the deck. Ben walked ahead, taking her outside and leading her down the snowed-in path, the crunching of their boots the only sound in the silence of twilight. The path led to a large, squat shed, nestled into the side of a hill, and its door was hanging open as the lock had been smashed to pieces.

 

While the moonlight illuminated the snow the outside, the space inside the doorway was as black as pitch.

 

“There’s a switch on the wall,” Ben rumbled. Rey’s fingers felt around the wall, finding the switch and flicking it on, the harsh light filling the room. They were standing in the empty lower garage section and Rey’s eyes scanned the neat space but, although it obviously hadn’t been used for a long time, the air still held the scent of wood and motor oil. She saw a carpenter’s work shop at the top of a staircase, and her gaze lingered on large wood chipper that had been pushed up against the wall below the workshop. She could see scrapes on the dusty floor... maybe it was the smell of the sawdust that had got to her, but she let the gun drop an inch or two as it shook slightly in her hand.

 

“What do you remember?” Ben asked, so gently she barely recognised his voice.

 

“Teeth,” she said honestly, as she climbed the stairs. She could see the drag marks on the floor and the rope leading to the wood chipper’s wide funnel, inside which she saw a roller covered with sharp metal blades. Rey’s knees felt weak as a sickening realization inched up her spine. Someone had wanted her to not just die, but to be ripped into shreds.

 

She glanced at Ben, who was standing at the top of the stairs, handcuffed and watching her silently with a solemn expression and sympathetic eyes.

 

Rey trusted her instincts as a surge of realization flooded her.

 

She’d learned to pick up the most subtle tells throughout her childhood – the slightest change in vocal pitch would be a clear warning, the twitch of an eye would be a signal that a backhanded slap was to follow… you got good at reading people.

 

Ben Solo had saved her from a horrific death and he hadn’t killed Luke or Han. She looked at him and she knew it.

 

Her whole body shaking now, she placed the gun on the bench beside her, while Ben continued to stand stock still at a respectful distance. Rey turned away from him, pressing both of her palms on the table to remain steady. As she attempted to collect herself, she heard his approaching footsteps on the bare floor boards.

 

“Let’s go back inside,” he rumbled gently, and Rey nodded, keeping her face angled away from him. “Do you want some tea? I’ll make you some.” His hand tentatively touched her elbow as though he was gauging her response. When she didn’t lash out at him, he guided her back to the house in silence.

 

Back in the warmth of the kitchen, Ben unlocked the handcuffs and put his glock back in the safe. He scratched the back of his head.

 

“Rey? I’m not sure if I have any tea that isn’t at least three years old. Would you mind if I used yours?” he asked.

 

She still hadn’t spoken since she’d seen the chipper, not that he could blame her - the idea of being in the teeth of that machine sounded like something straight out of a horror movie. She’d been staring at her hands as they rested on the kitchen counter, but she now looked up at him and quietly said, “Yeah, that’s okay.” Her sweet, pixieish face was still so pale, he could’ve counted every freckle. He decided it would be best to keep her talking.

 

“You have a few types in there,” he said, indicating the calico shopping bag. “Do you have a favourite?”

 

“The one called ‘Morning Sunshine’ will be fine, please,” she said, her voice still low. While he was happy she wasn’t yelling or splitting vitriol at him, he felt like he was walking on eggshells.

 

“This isn’t one of those teas that looks like potpourri is it?” he asked, peering warily inside the package at the dried black leaves, his nose slightly wrinkled in suspicion. “Cause I was thinking of having a cup.” Rey smiled faintly at his caution.

 

“No, its just black tea,” she assured him. He located the teapot on a high shelf in the pantry. He and Han had always required a more powerful hit of caffeine to get them going in the morning, so it was normally only used when Leia visited. He had given it to her for Christmas the year he turned fourteen, with money he’d earned working over the summer with Han. Like almost everything else in the house, she’d not taken it with her when she left.

 

Ben rinsed the teapot until it was free of dust, and set the kettle to boil as he took two mugs from the cupboard. Rey watched him prepare the tea until he tried to pour it into the mug, when she reached out and touched his hand to stop him pouring the tea.

 

“Wait. Give it time to seep,” she said softly.

 

The touch was only for a moment.

 

“Rey,” he swallowed, gathering his nerves. “I been thinking. I’d like you to consider taking the deputy job,” he said tentatively.

 

“But I can’t. If you’re investigating my attempted murder, it would be a conflict of interest,” she said.

 

“Well that’s the part you’re not going to like. It’s highly likely that what happened is related to Kaydel and Poe, so I was wondering if you’d be willing to forget about that and help me find this maniac,” he said, biting down on his bottom lip. Before he lost his nerve, he added, “And I think you should stay with me for the time being, you know, for safety.” Rey’s eyebrows shot up at that. Fucking hell, why didn’t he leave that part until later?

 

After a moment of stunned silence, she said, “You want me to not only work for you, but live with you too?”

 

“It’s not safe at that shit-hole of a motel. I mean - you were carried out of there unconscious and no one saw a damn thing. I walked straight in, took all your stuff and the night manager didn’t even ask what I was doing! He even gave me a wave, for fuck’s sake.”

 

He now sounded truly panicked but, if there was one thing that was engrained in menfolk of the Solo family, it was a deep-seated terror of small, angry women. Ben busied him pouring out the tea, pushing the milk across to a stony-faced Rey.

 

“Sugar?” he asked.

 

“I think I preferred ‘sweetheart’,” she said wryly.

 

Ben frowned, not catching her meaning, but his expression lightened as he realised what she meant.

 

“No, I don’t take sugar,” she said smiling shyly, “and let me think about it.”


	12. Chapter 12

 

Rey sat by the fireplace with a cup of tea cradled comfortably against her sternum.

 

She’d thrown a few more logs onto the fire to get it going again, before curling in the comfy leather chair and wrapping herself in a blanket she’d found thrown over the arm of the chair. Ben’s offer continually played on her mind as she watched the snow falling soundlessly outside the huge windows. The sun hadn’t risen yet and wouldn’t be up until seven so, since she was wide awake, she took the time to mull over her options.

 

Ben was right. The Pines Motel was clearly unsafe. If that little wanker of a night manager, Teedo, had just waved as Ben had walked out of her room with all her stuff, she found that particularly upsetting.

 

She drank some more tea, and considered the alternatives. She didn’t really have anyone else to stay with, since crashing with Finn and Rose hadn’t worked out. What if her attacker made another attempt? Finn or Rose could get hurt, so it might be safer to stay with Ben after all. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the room - there was a whole other wing to the house. A wing, for goodness sake! She’d grown up in a trailer that was so narrow she could put a foot on one wall and her outstretched hand on the other, and now she was drinking tea in a house that had so many rooms that they called them ‘wings’.

 

It had been pretty awkward at first, sitting there, eating dinner with a someone who only that afternoon she’d thought was a double murderer but, she would admit, Ben’s chicken and avocado quesadillas were the best she’d ever eaten. She just wouldn’t tell Ben that. Not yet, anyway.

 

Then there was the money factor to consider. She didn’t want to be ungrateful, but Luke’s estate hadn’t amounted to a lot of money. Definitely not enough to buy a house outright. There may be enough to rent for a while, but she’d need a job, and soon - few people would be willing to employ a private investigator who lived and worked out of a car.

 

Ben chose than moment to distract her, by lumbering sleepily into the kitchen, stripped to the waist. He walked right past her, apparently oblivious to her, straight to his probably indecently expensive coffee machine - the one which Rey had decided that she would never, ever touch.

 

Without permission from her brain, her eyes followed Ben’s beefcake body. He had pecs that popped out from his chest like perfectly rounded pillows, seeming to hover above the long lines of his obliques, teasingly tapering down to the waist band of his black pyjama pants.

 

He looked like the cover of romance novel, one about a randy CEO or maybe a pirate, given the long scar that bisected his right cheek. He clumsily shoved a mug and capsule into the coffee machine and it sprung into life, burbling and hissing through the silence in the room. Ben stretched his back, the thick cords of muscles running parallel to his spine and flexing in way that Rey found mesmerising. He raised his hand to ruffle his disheveled hair, making the thick bicep and deltoid on the top of his arm bulge, It was like a Caesar’s Palace statue deciding that it desperately needed caffeine. The rich dark scent of the coffee reached Rey, adding another layer of sensation to this early morning curiosity.

 

Ben turned around, sipping his coffee with reverence, eyes closed as he savoured it. When he opened his eyes they immediately fell on Rey curled in the chair, he let out a weird squawking sound and bobbled the mug in surprize, screeching “Fuck!” when the scalding liquid hit his bare chest.

 

“Oh shit, sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you...” she babbled, as she bounded out of the chair.

 

Ben hastily wiped at the scarlet blotches on his pale chest with a tea towel.

 

“Give it to me. If you wet it, that’ll cool the burn... sorry,” Rey said, taking the towel off him and sticking it underneath the tap, before pressing it against his torso. She stopped, distracted by the large scar on the left hand side of his abdomen. Rey had seen her fair share scars - the stippling scar tissue was from a shotgun, she was sure of it.

 

“Twelve gauge, looked like raw hamburger.” He stated, in answer to her unasked question. “Nearly bleed out in the ambulance.”

 

Her eyes traveled up to a round burn scar on his left shoulder.

 

“One of those little kitchen blowtorches,” he said softly.

 

She looked up into his eyes, horrified into speechlessness.

 

“That one was from a knife.”

 

 

God, he wanted to kiss that dumbstruck look off her face. Show her that he was whole and strong, just a little the worst for a few fights. Good sense fought against the strong urge to reach out to her, and Ben regretfully stepped away with considerable effort. He didn’t think getting into a romantic entanglement with someone he may both work and live with was a great idea. It was too much, way too fast.

 

“I’m going to get a shirt on. Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be up yet,” he said, suddenly feeling awkward as fuck. No, not fuck! Don’t think about sex, for fuck’s sake. But it had been a while... and she was wearing an oversized button down shirt as a nightshirt - it was so easy to imagine it was one of his shirts. That thought was definitely not helping either. “I’m going to go wash the coffee off, okay?”

 

Rey nodded, looking thoroughly flustered, and he inwardly groaned. This whole thing was such a bad idea.

 

After a cooling shower and some reflection, he decided it was best to just brazen his way through the embarrassment. It was only going to be weird if he made it weird... at least it wasn’t summer - she would have probably caught him naked. No, best to just act like nothing happened and put it behind them, he thought, as he liberally dabbed cologne on his freshly-shaven chin.

 

He walked back into the kitchen to find Rey now wearing skinny jeans and a thick cream turtleneck sweater, sitting at the counter eating a pop tart.

 

“I didn’t know what to wear. Is this okay?” She asked, gesturing to her clothes and hair, which was pulled back in a high ponytail. “I thought I would come to work with you and see if you and I can work together,” she said, eyeing him carefully.

 

Well, he supposed that wasn’t a straight up ‘no’. Quite reasonable really, all things considered.

 

“Like take your kid to work day?” He asked, dropping two slices of whole wheat bread into the toaster.

 

“Sort of. I’d like to get a feel for the place before I agree to anything,” she said, nibbling on the pop tart. It smelled like cherries.

 

“You’re welcome to anything in the kitchen, you know,” he said. Rey shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable as he retrieved the peanut butter from the pantry. “How about we get a grocery order online, each pay what we owe and I’ll pick it up on my way home while you drive your car back here? If you were thinking of staying here, that is,” he suggested.

 

“That’s a good idea. I decided I’d like to stay with you for the moment, until I have a plan. If you’re still okay with that?” She asked hesitantly, as he spread peanut butter over his toast.

 

“Yeah? That would be great... don’t feel like you have to take the job. You can stay here even if you don’t want it.” Rey nodded, seeming reassured.

 

After finishing breakfast, they drove into town, with Ben grinding his teeth as Mariah Carey warbled ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ all the way. Rey appeared to be enjoying it, if her little head movements where anything to go by, so he suffered in silence.

 

He deliberately took the streets that avoided Gwen’s front window and parked at ‘Nickel’ in a spot out of direct view of the radio station. Gwen would find out soon enough, but he’d cross that bridge when he had to, and not before.

 

“Why are we here?” Rey asked, looking at the diner with apprehension. It seemed Rey was no more anxious to to tell her friends about the recent turn in events than he was.

 

“I’m getting a coffee. Doph couldn’t make a decent cup at gun point,” Ben said.

 

“Why do you sound like you’re speaking from experience?” She teased.

 

He leaned towards her a few inches, his voice deeper and huskier. “I’m not telling.” He then popped out of the car and couldn’t help but glance back at Rey, and saw the sly grin playing on her lips.

 

 

Rose Tico was slightly shocked to see Ben Solo smiling like a guy who had just been given free beer by a topless Scarlett Johansson. What the actual fuck?

 

“Hey, Ben. You look happy,” she remarked suspiciously, and he immediately schooled his face into a sterner expression.

 

“Uhh, nothing. Did Finn get to talk to Poe at the weekend?” Ben asked, seemingly very keen to change the subject.

 

Rose gave him extreme side-eye as she measured out his coffee.

 

“Hey Ben, you haven’t seen Rey have you?” Finn called from the kitchen pass, over the screeching and hissing of the espresso machine.

 

Rose noticed the flush tinting Ben’s pale cheeks.

 

“Err, yeah. I saw her this morning, she seemed fine. Why don’t you call her?”

 

Finn nodded, the big dummy. He didn’t even notice Ben’s tell-tale blush. She loved Finn to death, but he was so clueless sometimes. Rose passed Ben his rocket fuel of a beverage and he gave her fifty dollars.

 

“Put the change on my tab, and could you make up two extra lunch specials? I got some reinforcements coming in from Denver today, okay?” He said, before making a hasty exit.

 

As he left, Rose hurried to the window, peering through it just in time to catch a glimpse of Ben’s patrol car speeding past. She didn’t see the passenger’s face, but she was almost certain it was Rey. Damn it, she thought. Finn was going to completely freak out.

 

 

Doph Mitaka had just ducked into the supermarket to pick up a few things before going to work, and the strangest items on the list were a teapot and loose tea. He didn’t know why Ben, a pain-in- the-ass coffee snob, would want tea. Maybe it was for the Detective from the state police that was due to arrive that morning. He checked out, keeping the receipt for reimbursement, then drove the short distance to the sheriff’s office, and parked behind the building in his normal space.

 

Once inside, however, Doph’s morning was derailed. The crazy woman who’d floored the sheriff last Friday was in the office, calmly talking to Ben and a third man.

 

What the hell was going on?

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly I’m not a detective.

Estoria was remote. A half hour drive along a winding road through the mountains, following a flight into Telluride the night before. “The highest airport in North America, don’t you know,” his seat-mate had informed him enthusiastically in a thick Wisconsin accent. This piece of information didn’t exactly fill Dominic’s heart with seasonal joy. He wasn’t really a fan of flying.

 

The highway led to a town nestled in a densely wooded valley, a collection of mostly red brick one and two story buildings decorated with wreaths, bows and an abundance of Christmas lights. Stopping at the first of the town’s two traffic lights, he spotted a sign advertising a Christmas market on Thursday night in the town square on Main Street - the street he was now driving along, according to Google Maps. While it looked like a nice enough town, he felt a slightly creeped-out sensation that he’d stumbled on the set of The Gilmore Girls.

 

Dom rounded the corner and spotted a familiar figure stepping out of a police car. Ben could hardly be missed at six foot two - he stood out, or rather above, most crowds.

 

“Holy Shit! Ben Solo!” Dominic called as he climbed out of his hire car. “When they told me you were the sheriff out here, I didn’t believe it!”

 

Ben turned to face him, mandatory morning coffee in hand, and Dom was pleased to see that some things hadn’t changed, even if Ben’s face certainly had. “Solo, what the f... uhh, heck! Did you cut yourself shaving??” Dom exclaimed, moderating his language mid-stream as a pretty young woman appeared from behind Ben’s broad back.

 

“Dom? You’re the detective they sent us? Fuck. Small world.” He rumbled. “This is Rey Jakku. She’s considering taking over the deputy job while Poe recovers.”

 

Dom shook the slightly anxious-looking brunette’s hand. “Dominic Knight,” he said, ramping up the charm. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Jakku.” She was definitely a cutie, maybe being in the ass-end of nowhere wasn’t going to be so bad after all. He realized he might’ve been holding onto her hand for a fraction too long, because Ben was now shaking his keys aggressively at him.

 

He entered the sheriff’s office, a long, uninspiring room with two desks at the end, but Dom was more interested in watching the progress of Rey’s swishing ponytail as she removed her coat, his eyes widening as her lithe body was revealed. Whack! One of Ben’s meaty fists collided with his upper arm as he took his coat off.

 

“Sorry,” Ben grunted, though he didn’t look particularly remorseful. Dom decided it was best to get straight to work.

 

“Why don’t you get me up to speed,” he suggested, trying to ignore the tempting vision of Rey’s legs encased in tight denim jeans.

 

Mumbling in agreement, Ben opened the door to his office, a completely impersonal room, lined with wood panels and devoid of any photos or knick knacks. He began pulling out folders from his filing cabinet as Dom and Rey sat in the two chairs opposite each other, and started going over the particulars of the case. A home invasion resulting in a homicide, an abduction and aggravated assault on Poe Dameron, the town’s deputy. Dom rose an eyebrow – it must’ve been a shock for a sleepy little place like this.

 

“I’ll need to go out the crime scene,” he said, noting that Ben had sneakily shifted his chair towards Rey’s end of the desk.

 

Dominic Knight had been a Detective for a few years and he’d been on the receiving end of the ‘us and them’ mentality many times - people in rural communities would often harbour a similar attitude. But this, he thought, was more about the lovely Rey... So, ‘Always Solo’ was trying to hook up with his own deputy, was he? Now, that was very interesting. He was unable to detect any obvious clues as to whether Rey felt the same way.

 

Ben stood, clearing his throat. “Okay, sounds like Doph just got in, so we’ll head over to the Connix place now.” He rumbled. “Snap and Jess are at the scene, forensics are due in shortly.”

 

They filed out of his office, to find a twitchy-looking man making a big show of making a pot of coffee.

 

“Morning Doph,” Ben said brightly, by his usual standards. “Dopheld Mitaka, this is Rey Jakku, uhhh I don’t think I got chance to introduce her the last time she was here. And this Dominic Knight - he’s the Detective that’ll be assisting us with the Connix case,” Ben told the man.

 

Dom nodded courteously in his direction, estimating the dark-haired, almost prissy man to be in his early thirties.

 

“Doph, can you organise some uniforms for Rey and start the paperwork too, please? She’s agreed to take the deputy position,” Ben plowed on.

 

Doph blanched white to the lips, blinking in disbelief and not entirely sure whether he'd heard Ben correctly. Dom turned to catch a pink-faced Rey studiously inspecting the Christmas tree.

 

“Rey, if you could give Dom your sizes, then we’ll head out to the Connix place,” Ben continued. Doph didn’t comment, and just frostily handed Rey a stack of post-it notes and pen so that she could jot down her sizes. “Okay, we’ll take my car,” he announced, his head held high and shoulders stiff, making his sasquatch gait even more apparent.

 

“Why don’t we take mine?” Dom offered.

 

“You don’t know where the Connix place is,” he said, a hint of annoyance evident in his voice.

 

“You can show the way,” Dom said with a slightly malicious smile.

 

“Or I can just drive us there,” Ben practically growled.

 

Rey watched the two men for a few seconds, exuding an air of utter boredom, then leant across Doph’s desk to pluck a ruler from a cylinder of stationery. She slapped it to Ben’s chest, making him jump slightly.

 

“Just get it over with. I’ll be in the car,” she called as she slipped out the door, holding up her hand to reveal Ben’s keys.

 

“How the fuck!?” Ben snarled, as he rummaged though his pocket with one hand - she’d snaked his keys without him knowing. “What did she want me to do with this?” He asked Dom and Doph, waving the ruler.

 

They looked at Ben with twin expressions of disbelief and a touch of pity.

 

“She was suggesting you two should measure and compare... things,” Doph told him meaningfully, looking down at Ben’s crotch level.

 

“Oh, I like her!” Dom said, as her followed Rey to the patrol car.

 

 

The Connix house was a two story creepy confection of dark grey and white, and a yellow tent had been set up in the driveway, standing out garishly in the monochromatic landscape. An unsettling sensation slid over Rey’s skin as they approached the house. As she slowed the car to park, a barrel-chested, dark headed cop walked down the drive towards them.

 

“Morning, Ben!” He called out, in a deep, booming voice that seemed a shade too cheerful for a murder scene.

 

“Morning Snap.” Ben greeted. “Greg Wexley, this is Detective Dominic Knight, and Rey Jakku. She’s going to be filling in the deputy job,” he said delicately.

 

“Hi, Detective Knight... Ms Jakku. Call me Snap - only my mom calls me Greg,” he said amiably, extending his hand to each in turn. He was a great teddy bear of a guy with a full beard and warm brown eyes and Rey liked him instantly.

 

“Hi, Snap, Rey is fine” she beamed as she stepped out into the arctic air, her breath coming out in billowing plumes of vapour.

 

“Yeah, Dom,” the Detective said, eager to get out of the car. “Is it OK to go in?”

 

“Yes,” Snap said. He turned to Ben. “Jess is inside. The techs are done with the driveway,” he added grimly.

 

“They find anything?” Dom asked as they approached the front door. Snap shook his head.

 

“Nothing that blew their skirts up,” he replied sardonically. As they reached the door, Snap handed them a box containing disposable gloves, head and boot covers and they put them on in silence.

 

Rey balanced on one foot and tried to pull the bootie over the heel over her boot, wobbling slightly. She stretched out her arm to help correct her balance and looked up in surprize as she felt Ben gently take her fingers in his, so that her palm rested over the back of his broad hand, his thumb brushing against her knuckles as he steadied her. The significance of the gentlemanly gesture and the heat of Ben’s huge hand seemed to steal up her arm to warm her chest.

 

They stepped into the foyer and Rey surveyed the inside of the Connix dwelling, noting that this was definitely a house, not a home. The living room was painted in an outdated light apricot with a dark wooden coffee table in the centre, surrounded by a green overstuffed couch and a pair of uncomfortable-looking floral wingback chairs.

 

Rey glanced into the dining room, decorated in shades of watery green and off-white, very Martha Stewart Living. Everything was painfully tidy, there wasn’t a spec of dust on the skirting boards or even a discarded magazine, anything to show someone actually lived here. It left Rey with the impression that she was standing in a life sized doll’s house. Finn had mentioned that Mr Connix had left his wife and child for another man, and maybe the trauma had made her unwilling to move on with her life.

 

“We’re not sure how the offender gained access, there are no obvious signs of forced entry. Looks like most of the action happened upstairs.” Snap informed them, before leading the way to the second floor. “Jessie?” He called.

 

If Rey did know better, she’d have thought Jessika Pava was a cop-themed stripper. Her hourglass figure made even her boxy black uniform look good; she was beautiful, with berry-stained bee stung lips and sultry almond shaped eyes. In the most basic terms, she made Rey feel like the skinny knock-kneed, flat-chested girl in middle school all over again.

 

Jessika looked up from her iPad to greet them, giving Dom and Rey a quick assessing glance, seeming to assure herself of her continued placement as the hottest woman in the room. “Hey Ben,” she purred, tucking a stray lock of her silky black hair behind her ear as Ben lumbered into view.

 

“Hey, Jess. This is Dominic Knight from the state police, and Rey Jakku. She’s my new deputy,” Ben rumbled. “She comes very highly recommended from Las Vegas PD,” he added, oblivious to way Rey’s eyes widened then narrowed.

 

 

Son of a bitch! He’d looked up her record. Well, that probably wasn’t entirely unexpected, she had accused him of murdering his own father and uncle... but what the hell did he mean about ‘highly recommended’? She was only there four months and she doubted that Snoke and his band of corrupt arse-clowns would give her a glowing reference.

 

She noticed Dominic Knight now regarding her with interest. Rey really didn’t know quite what to make of the detective. If she had been expecting Derek Morgan or Spencer Reid, she would’ve been sorely disappointed.

 

He was her height with deep set oceanic blue eyes that were sharp and calculating, assessing and cataloging everything around him. With his short sandy blonde hair, round cheeks and snub nose coupled with a deep cleft in his chin meant he wasn’t exactly handsome, but he had a sort of youthful mischievous charm that was very attractive. In fact he was the complete physical opposite of Ben, big, dark and brooding like the lightening storms back in Vegas.

 

Jessika was looking at her with an air of suspicion, whether it was because of the scandal in Vegas or being closer in proximity to Ben, she wasn’t sure. At a guess, she’d say both.

 

Uncomfortable at being under such undisguised scrutiny, Rey turned away to survey Kaydel’s bedroom from the doorway, thinking that the baby pink walls were better suited to a little girl than a grown woman. Poe must’ve been attacked here, because the varnish on the door had bubbled and there were marks on the floor where he’d clearly dragged himself into the en suite.

 

She stepped gingerly into the room, where forensic techs were busily taking fingerprints.

 

“Is it okay to look at the bathroom?” She asked tentatively.

 

A young man looked up from his work, his name tag said ‘Aki Angira’. “I haven’t been in there yet, so don’t touch anything - just look in from the doorway, okay? I don’t want to lose any evidence.”

 

“Okay, I understand. I’ll stay on the carpet.” She looked into the bathroom, it was a mess. The same rusty stains that dotted the carpet were flecked across the cream bathroom tile, making them look even more sinister. The rose-printed bath mat was bunched in the corner. She peered into the empty rubbish bin.

 

“Did you find a pregnancy test?” She asked Lieutenant Angira.

 

“No, I haven’t found anything like that.” He answered, confused.

 

“Did the EMT’s mention finding one?” She asked Ben.

 

Ben shook his head, his forehead creased with a deep scowl, lips pursed. “If Poe was carrying a positive pregnancy test, I’m sure I’d have been told about it. We’ll double check, but if it’s not here either she’ll have it or the perpetrator will.”

 

“Perpetrators,” she corrected. He eyed her carefully.

 

“What makes you think that?” He asked, curious.

 

“Don’t know, really. It just seems like a lot work for just one person, doesn’t it? Killing Mrs Connix and attacking Poe, while restraining Kaydel,” Rey said quietly as Ben approached her, warily avoiding the stains on the carpet.

 

“I’m thinking the same thing...”

 

“Care to share with the rest of the class, Always? Or is it a private conversation?” Dom asked mildly.

 

“Rey was just raising the idea that there might’ve been more then one perp,” Ben replied tensely, the thoughtful frown creasing his forehead turning into a frown of annoyance. “And no one has mentioned finding a pregnancy test yet.”

 

“That’s two good points. So either Miss Connix still has it, or the perpetrator or perpetrators might have it,” Dom assessed, tugging on the edge of his plastic gloves. “Do you have any more impressions?” He asked Rey.

 

Ben was looking at her encouragingly, but she hesitated for moment. Luke had asked questions like that, only to cut her down with a spiteful snipe.

 

“I think Kaydel was the target, but I don’t feel Mrs Connix was an accident. I believe murdering her was part of the plan,” Rey said. Dom looked at her then to Ben.

 

“Oh God! Now there’s two of you,” he said, sounding exasperated.

 

“Agent Knight doesn’t put much stock in intuition, but I feel differently.” Ben explained with a slightly twisted smirk, his arms folded over his chest. Dominic Knight didn’t seem to like it much, but then he always seemed to be awfully competitive when it came to Ben.

 

“Intuition isn’t admissible in a court room,” Dom replied, sounding almost waspish. When he saw the expression on Rey’s face he changed tactics. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that I can’t take it to a judge. I need something solid.”

 

“Rey has a point, though,” Ben said. “Why kill Colette? If you’re able to take down Poe, why throw a woman in her sixties out the window?”

 

Dominic didn’t seem to have an answer for this.

 

Annoyingly, the crime scene didn’t offer much to go on, whoever had taken Kaydel had left little in the way of clues. That afternoon, Rey sat wearily at Poe’s desk, rubbing her temples. After listening to Dom and Ben exchange snipes all morning and half an afternoon, she’d been more than ready for a break.

 

They’d been due to meet Mr Connix next, to update him on the STate police’s involvement in his daughter and ex-wife’s case, and Ben had felt that Rey being there without a uniform might be confusing. At any rate, she had to fill out a butt load of employment paperwork, so Ben had dropped her back at the office after they’d finished at the house.

 

Doph was still being frosty and she wondered about the wisdom of taking this job. Snap and an irritable Jess had headed back to Telluride with the forensics techs, but Snap had told her they were coming back for the Christmas markets on Thursday. She considered the possibility that she may have rushed into this - bitchy co-workers and a male pissing match wasn’t exactly what she looked for in a job. The office phone rang, interrupting her pensive thoughts. Doph answered it.

 

“It’s Ben” he said offering her the phone “Hey” Ben’s deep voice rumbled “I wanted to give you the login for the grocery order. I forgot to tell you this morning. Just login on Poe’s computer. She pressed the phone between her shoulder and ear, with her hunt and peck typing style, soon she was logged into Ben’s order and was pleasantly surprised.

 

He’d ordered Ben and Jerry’s ‘Everything but the Sink’, her favourite ice cream. Rey had intended to treat herself to some as she’d been living on virtually nothing but bagged salads and dried noodles, with the occasional meal at Maz’s, or Finn and Rose’s. And the order didn’t just have the ice cream she wanted – she’d also intended to buy Raisin Bran as well as a few other things already on Ben’s list. That was an odd coincidence. She added few more items to the order, thinking that as Ben was picking it up from the store on his way home, she wouldn’t have to worry about it until later.

 

When Dominic and Ben returned later in the afternoon, they both looked tired, Ben in particular. She decided then that she’d make dinner tonight - hopefully he’d be okay with pasta. That was about the limit of her culinary skills.

 

“Where’s the Pines motel?” Dom asked.

 

“Is that where you’re staying?” Ben asked. “It’s out of town, next to the highway.”

 

“If you’re going there, would you mind dropping me off? I still have to get my car.” Rey said. “If it’s still there,” she added grimly.

 

“I promised Teedo that I’d come around more often if anything happened to it,” Ben muttered to her with a wry half-smile. She pulled on her beanie, trying and failing to keep a smile off her face.

 

“Are you staying there too?” Dom asked Rey, brightening.

 

“No, I’m staying with a friend. I just had some car trouble,” she lied smoothly, pointedly not looking at Ben or Doph. “Night, Doph... Ben.”

 

“See you in the morning, Always...Doph,” Dom said, before stepping into the cold with Rey. It was snowing lightly now and Rey still wasn’t used to the beauty of it, and tilted her face up to the sky in wonder. She felt Dom watching her, with an all too familiar covetous expression that made her nervous.

 

“Ready?” He asked.

 

“Yeah. Why did you call Ben ‘Always’?” Rey asked, genuinely curious but also deliberately trying to keep him talking, hoping that the distraction would prevent him from acting on other ideas.

 

“I don’t know who started it, but it stuck. He was the first at everything at the academy.” Dom explained. “Always”

It was also a mean spirited dig at Ben for being completely clueless with women. ‘Always’ Solo, All he’d have do was walk into a bar and stand there - women would be practically climbing up his pants leg, but Ben would open his big mouth and next thing the women would be running for the door.

 

“Was that here in Colorado?” She asked.

 

“No Langley, Virginia.”

 

“What, you mean the FBI academy?” Rey asked, alarmed at the girlish astonishment in her voice.

 

“Yeah, We were in the same year, I didn’t make the final cut but Ben..” Dom shook his head “He was like some kind of warrior monk. I think he still holds the record for the obstacle course,” he said. “The nephew of the legendary Luke Skywalker, the golden boy. Then Ben dropped out after his accident. That had be enough of a shock, but the next thing we heard was that he’d been caught up the corruption investigation on Las Vegas PD.”

 

“’Warrior monk’?” Rey asked. “What does that mean? Just up Main St and turn right at the lights.”

 

“He lived for the training,” Dom said, following her directions. “Everyone who gets into the academy is really focused on the coursework, but Ben was something else. Rumour had it he lived with his uncle in his teens, and he home-schooled Ben to be an agent. As soon as he got to the academy, it was obvious he knew what he was doing. He could shoot and was proficient in hand-to-hand. Easily the smartest guy in the room”

 

Rey thoughtfully tilted her head to one side. “And the accident?”

 

“He was shot - shotgun, at the academy firing range, late at night. It nearly killed him. Next thing we know he’s out and no one knows anything more about it.”

 

She thought about the scar on Ben’s side. Luke had never had much to say about his nephew, except to tell her that he’d gone dark, turning on his family and leaving to work for Snoke.

 

“Do you want to get some dinner with me?” Dom asked suddenly.

 

Rey breathed in. “Not tonight, I’m tired. But thanks anyway. It’s just on the left,” she directed, as the tacky motel neon sign came up over the hill. She needed to get out of this car and ‘home’. Dom looked disappointed and she hoped he wouldn’t press the matter, but she realized his ego couldn’t have been too badly bruised as he slid an arm across the back of her seat once he’d pulled up in front of the motel. Rey immediately bolted from the car, calling over her shoulder, “Good night, Detective Knight.” Not waiting for a reply, she made a beeline for her car.

 

Safe inside, she drove straight for Ben’s house.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s their second date!

Ben was busy putting the grocery order away when he heard Rey pull into the garage, which he’d left open for her. In preparation, Ben had moved Leia’s car to the workshop to make room for her car, and he’d even found time to have another house key cut for Rey. A weird bubble of apprehension mixed exhilaratingly with the excitement forming in his stomach at her approach.

 

“Ben?” She called, as she entered though the mud room door.

 

“In the kitchen!” He called back.

 

“Thanks for leaving a space for me in the garage!” She called, amid a series of bangs and shuffling noises. “You haven’t started dinner yet, have you? I thought I might cook - if you’re okay with spaghetti with bacon?” She asked, appearing from the mud room in her socks. He had the strangest urge to kiss her ‘hello’, as though he was a little 50’s housewife or something.

 

“I am always okay with bacon,” he assured her. “Doph says your uniform should be ready tomorrow, by the way.”

 

“Tomorrow? What is he - some kind of uniform-procuring miracle worker?” She asked, dumbfounded.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t call him that, but he’s very good at his job.” Ben added watching her retrieve a bottle of pasta sauce and a packet of spaghetti from her shopping. “Cold stuff is in the fridge. How did we end up with two pints of the same Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, by the way?” He asked, leaning his hip against the counter while she opened the fridge and looked for the bacon.

 

“I didn’t think you’d appreciate me eating your ice cream.” She said.

 

“Don’t worry about it, just take what you need, okay?” He told her, but Rey still looked uncomfortable with the idea.

 

“Where’s your cutting board?” Rey said, seemingly anxious to change the subject.

 

Ben fetched it from the cupboard beneath the island and handed it to her, then put a pot of water on the boil and found the frying pan, while she located a knife. He settled in the kitchen chair across from her and watched as she chopped up the bacon, a comfortable silence settling between them as she worked.

 

Rey struggled to open the bottle of tomato pasta sauce, fruitlessly tapping it against the cutting board to release the seal, so he gently took it from her and effortlessly popped it open.

 

“I can do chin-ups, you know,” she informed him loftily, as she swept the bacon from the board into the pan with the knife, watching it sizzle and pop energetically.

 

“I don’t doubt it for a moment. I have a home gym if you want to workout,” Ben said. Rey rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.

 

“Of course you do,” she muttered as she pushed the bacon around the pan with a spatula, its appetizing aroma now filling the kitchen.

 

“I had to - the locals felt there was nothing wrong with interrupting my workout to complain about parking tickets or their next door neighbour’s dog barking,” Ben grumbled.

 

“And having a conversation with someone is completely intolerable?” She teased, while putting the spaghetti in the bubbling water, moving her head back to avoid the plumes of steam wafting up from the pan.

 

“Present company excluded, yes,” he conceded. “I just want to get my workout done without being constantly interrupted. That’s not too much to ask, is it?” He watched her for a few moments, then added, “there’s some kale in the freezer in little cubes - you should add a couple so it’s at least got some kind of vegetable in it.”

 

“Kale? You’re not a Cross-Fit fuckwit are you?” She groaned theatrically. Ben smiled at her, and a nagging insecurity told him he probably looked like a goofball, with his crooked teeth and squinty eyes, but he couldn’t help it.

 

“I’m not really into it, but I’ve done a few WOD’s,” he admitted.

 

She groaned, “Noooo!” and made fake sobbing movements with her shoulders.

 

“Oh, calm your melodramatic ass down!” He joked. “I don’t do that whole protein powder and humble-brag instagram shit. Me, Poe and few cops from Telluride did ‘Murphy’ as a fundraiser for Memorial Day this year, that’s all.”

 

“Fine, but if you start doing handstand push-ups or talking about your form during piston squats, I’ll set you on fire in your sleep.”

 

“Well that’s a bit harsh!” Ben muttered.

 

“I had more than enough of it in the academy, thanks. Cross-fit is practically a pandemic there,” she moaned, prodding the bacon around the pan some more.

 

“Anyway it has tomatoes in it, isn’t that a vegetable?” Rey said defensively, carefully pouring the sauce into the pan.

 

“Botanically speaking, tomatoes are fruit.” Ben said, before he could help himself.

 

“You know, you sound like an utter tosser when you say thing like that,” she said archly, as she stirred.

 

“I should be, Gwen calls me one often enough,” he mused.

 

“Who’s Gwen?” She asked, curious.

 

“My best friend, I guess. Since we were fourteen. She walked in on her first day at school and told me I was taking her to Prom.”

 

“Oh, were you high school sweethearts?” Rey asked cautiously.

 

Ben snorted softly. “Fuck no! She was six foot, even then. She just lined me up because I was the tallest in our year, and she still wore five inch heels!” Grinning, Rey picked out a strand of spaghetti and bit it.

 

“Is it cooked yet?”

 

“Not yet,” she sing-songed.

 

“Hurry up woman, I’m hungry!” Ben urged. Rey turned on him, brandishing the spatula threateningly, like an oddly-shaped, tomato and onion sword.

 

“Back off Solo,” she warned, with a surprising amount of menace. “There’s a very short list of men that are allowed to call me ‘woman’ and you’re not on it.” He decided to demure for a while, but noticed her sneakily digging out two cubes of frozen kale from the freezer and drop them into the sauce, before turning the heat down.

 

“So who’s on the list?” He asked, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. She leant forward with elbows on the counter - if had been summertime he might’ve been offered a tempting view of cleavage, but it wasn’t, and her cream turtleneck only hinted at her delicate curves.

 

“Nonya,” she replied.

 

“Who’s Nonya?” He scoffed, thinking it sounded like a stupid rap name.

 

“None ya business.”

 

“Come on,” he cajoled.

 

“Animal from the Muppets,” she deadpanned.

 

“Fine. Be like that,” he grumbled.

 

“Anyway, what about you and Jess?” Rey asked. While she sounded perfectly composed, he noticed she was avoiding looking directly at him.

 

“What about me and Jess?” He said, perhaps a little bit smugly.

 

“Oh come on, don’t pull that shit!” She growled, turning to look at him.

 

“What shit?” He said, pouting slightly, and shrugged. The annoyed expression slid right off her face, replaced by shock. Seeing this, Ben leaned forward. “What is it? Rey, you look like you saw a ghost.” Even with her tanned skin, she looked pale, making her freckles stand out more.

 

“It’s nothing really – you just really looked like your dad for a second,” Rey said, her voice tight. She turned back to the stove to stir the sauce, turning down the heat. Ben swallowed the thickness in his throat.

 

“You knew Dad?”

 

“Uhh yeah. You looked up my record, so I guess you know I was homeless for a while.” Ben nodded, silently encouraging her to continue. Instinct told him that interrupting her would make her clam up.

 

“Han found me trying to steal his car in Vegas - there were some pretty unpleasant people after me for a while. I was trying to get away from them so I hot-wired his falcon. I mean, I only broke into it because I thought it was so old, it was unlikely to have a car alarm. He caught me. Instead of turning me in, he drove me up to Denver to meet Leia.” Rey said in a rush, studying his face as though she was looking right into him. “I liked him... he was one of the few people that were ever kind to me.”

 

Ben couldn’t find the spite to tell her that Han would’ve only disappointed her.

 

“And she sent you to Luke,” he said instead. “How did that go?”

 

Rey shrugged. “Where do you keep your colander?”

 

“Big drawer on your left.” He said quickly, refusing to let the subject drop. “Come on, I can see you want to tell me. Come on - say it.” Maybe her reluctance to say anything negative about his uncle was a British stiff upper lip thing, but he had to prompt her again, almost like a challenge. “Say it.”

 

“Not great,” Rey admitted, her shoulders slumping as she located the pasta drainer. She placed it in the sink and the pasta bounced erratically as she poured them in. Steam billowed out in a huge cloud as she put the spaghetti back into the pot, sending the little fly-away hairs around her face into a mesmerising dance. “I had to camp on his front step for a week before he’d even talk to me,” she admitted.

 

“But he did agree to train you, didn’t he?” She answered with a nod.

 

“The first lesson didn’t go well. He said I was like you.” She confided softly as she poured pasta into the sauce.

 

“I don’t think we’re much alike, Rey. Did he make you take cold baths?” Ben asked soberly.

 

“Sometimes. It wasn’t so bad - it was spring when I arrived on the island and autumn when... well, when he died. Why do you ask?”

 

Ben couldn’t answer her straight away. His mind had returned to the day in early February, to the memory of walking across the ice on the lake close to Luke’s house. Hearing it cracking and popping underneath his boots then that sudden split, plunging helplessly into its icy grasp. A then teenaged Ben had instinctively fought in desperation, clawing and kicking up to pull himself back up onto the ice as the air was forced from his lungs...

 

...Only to see his uncle impassively watching his struggle but, instead of helping him, Luke had then pushed Ben’s head back underneath the water. Ben had grabbed and torn at Luke’s grip with numb fingers, twisting away beneath the ice sheet. He’d punched another hole in the ice and eventually managed to drag himself out, his body so frozen he hadn’t even felt his knuckles splitting from the blows.

 

Luke had told an exhausted, shell-shocked Ben that this was part of his training, that it would make him strong and he’d naively believed him, trusting in his uncle without question.

 

“Ben?”

 

“He made me take them too,” he said quietly, collecting himself and shaking off the disturbing memory. “Rey, why do you think he and dad were murdered?”

 

“I thought you would have read my notes,” she said, as she portioned out their meal.

 

“I didn’t think invading your privacy even further would be a good idea.” Ben said plainly. “Couch or table?”

 

“Couch... this feels like a couch conversation.” They moved into the lounge and both sat down, Rey tucking her feet under her butt and Ben stretching out to rest his feet on the coffee table. Through mouthfuls of hot food, she explained about the results of Chewie’s necropsy.

 

“I’ve never heard of methyl iodide? Is it hard to get hold of?”

 

“Not really, it’s a common ingredient in pesticides.” She told him.

 

“How would it have been administered? Could it have been accidentally?” He asked, before eating a fork full of pasta.

 

“I don’t think so. Ahchto is a biological preserve, and this rare bird called porges nests there. Because of that, no pesticides are allowed on the island.” Rey explained. “I’ve been thinking about it. Luke took a swim each morning and he always used this organic sunscreen - I never used it because I had my own. Chewie was licking Luke’s hand when I found him.”

 

“Do you still have the sunscreen?” He asked.

 

“I’ve checked through his stuff but it wasn’t there. I mean, it might’ve been thrown out when we cleared his cabin, but I don’t remember seeing it after that morning, either.”

 

“It makes a certain amount of sense. But Luke was cremated, so we can’t prove it,” he said. He watched her thoughtfully for a moment, noting the conflicted expression spreading across her face - she seemed desperate to ask a question, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. “No.” He said firmly.

 

“I know it’s difficult...”

 

“I’m not digging up my father without a shred of evidence, Rey. You really can’t ask me to do that,” he said, somewhat shakily. “Look, plenty of people would’ve wanted Luke dead, even now. But Dad just had a plain old heart attack - it’s horrible, but it happens.”

 

Rey looked sympathetic, but there was still a trace of rebellious tenacity.

 

“This is very good,” he told her, in the vain hope that he might distract her.

 

“Yes, I can open a good jar,” she said sarcastically.

 

“Well, technically, I opened the jar,” Ben teased. Rey clenched her fist but left her middle knuckle raised, using it to grind at the pressure point in between Ben’s ribs under the armpit and causing him to hastily grab his plate of pasta as he writhed in pain. “Ouch! Cut it out! Jesus, you’re a violent creature.”

 

“Never forget it, Solo,” she said.

 

He stretched his back and shifted to a more comfortable position. That had really hurt. They ate in silence for a few minutes, until he suddenly noticed something glinting in the shell of her ear. Ben might well have invaded Rey personal space as he gently grabbed her head to angle it so that he could peer into her ear.

 

“What the heck are you doing?” Rey gasped, as he cupped her jaw and tilted her face to look again... nope, his eyes hadn’t lied - there really was a little star sparkling in the delicate folds of her ear.

 

“Do you have an earring inside your ear?” He asked, confounded.

 

“It’s a diath piercing, I heard it helps with migraines,” she told him. “Er, you’re still holding my head.”

 

“Fuuuccck, that looks like it hurt!” He marvelled. She slapped his hand away.

 

“Yes, thank you. It did,” she said, pulling her face free.

 

“Did it help? With your migraines I mean?”

 

“Nope, no effect at all,” she stated, looking disgruntled as she speared another fork full of pasta.

 

“Well, it’s pretty,” he mumbled. She looked at him as though she wasn’t sure how to take a compliment.

 

“Thanks,” she shrugged awkwardly, blushing slightly.

 

“You’re welcome….I’m really not interested in Jessika, you know...” Ben added quietly. Rey wasn’t doing a very good job of looking unaffected, making a big show of concentrating on stirring her fork in the spaghetti and avoiding eye contact. “She’s kind of...serious.”

 

Rey frowned. “Serious?” She queried, clearly confused. “Forgive me, but why would you, Mr ‘I have more gravitas then a black fricken’ black hole’, have a problem with seriousness?”

 

Ben barked out a laugh. “What?!”

 

Rey stood up and mimed a hulking, slightly pigeon-toed walk, scowling and pretending to drink coffee, while muttering, “Scowl, Brood, people suck! brood some more, Fucking Christmas! Hmmm, coffee - more coffee! I still hate everyone but I’m more articulate about it! Spend the afternoon smouldering.”

 

He leaned back in the sofa, crossing his arms as he watched her little pantomime. “Is that supposed to be me?” He interrupted. “That was nothing like me!”

 

“That was exactly like you,” she informed him, tilting her chin up.

 

Well, at least she hadn’t made fun of his ears.

 

“Are you pouting?!” She crowed.

 

“No,” he said indignantly, trying to shape his lips into a non-pouty expression. It was futile - he’d been born with naturally pouty lips.

 

She laughed and walked back into the kitchen. “You so are. I’m getting a beer, do you want one?”

 

“Yeah, thanks.” He picked up the remote and flipped the channel over to the Rangers game. “You like ice hockey?” After a few seconds of silence, he called again, “Rey?” and turned round to look for her in the kitchen. She was gone. “Rey?”

 

“Wait a second!” He heard her shout from her room. She reappeared, carrying the beers and wearing a long sleeved t-shirt in black and gold, with ‘My cup size is Stanley’ emblazoned across her perky little tits. He was pretty sure her cup size was a B, a perfect mouthful, but was equally sure that if he actually said that out loud she’d whip that beer at his head. He winced.

 

“You’re a Vegas fan...” He hissed his breath between his teeth.

 

“Don’t start!” She warned, his beer in hand.

 

Deciding discretion was indeed the better part of valour, he wisely choose to shut his mouth and watch the game without further comment.

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

 

Rey had always been an early bird. She preferred to get her workout done first thing in the morning, before her brain figured out what was going on.

 

Ben had told her that he had a home gym and he’d offered to let her search the house, so that helped to assuage any guilt she might’ve felt about snooping around his place.

 

She reasoned that the gym couldn’t be on this side of the house. A hallway led off the living room, which had Rey’s room at one end and Ben’s bedroom at the other, with a bathroom and toilet in between. So it had to be in the other side of house.

 

Rey quietly stole through the living room to the foyer, turning towards the hallway branching off it. She reasoned that the gym was probably at the front of the house to save the best views over the rear garden for the bedroom. She was about to turn left into the hallway when the light from her phone revealed a familiar face beaming at her from the wall. Luke Skywalker had never smiled in the time that she had known him.

 

To see the unmistakable lines of his face so confident and open was jarring. The expression on the impossibly young Leia’s face was no less discordant - she was grinning at her brother, her arms thrown loosely around his neck.

 

Other photos held familiar faces: Han was ridiculously handsome in very seventies tuxedo, dancing practically nose-to-nose with Leia in a slinky black dress; another black and white photo showed Han with a blinding smile, at such a close range it was little wonder Leia was looking at him like he’d personally hung the moon.

 

There were many pictures of a black-haired boy, from a round red-faced newborn to an adorably chubby toddler gripping a teddy bear that was almost as big as him; Ben, at maybe nine years old, with a bemused smile, like he already knew this photo was going to come back to bite him in the arse. Hs terrible 90’s bowl haircut revealed his wing-nut ears in all their glory, and Rey couldn’t suppress a smirk. It was mean, but...those ears!

 

The first door she passed revealed a master bathroom, tastefully decorated in soft blues and greens. She had a disconcerting feeling that she was now truly invading the family space - she’d taken it for granted that this hallway led to Han and Leia’s bedroom but, when standing over in the other part of the house, it was hard enough even just to talk about Han. So she didn’t really want to stand in what had to be the most intimate part of Ben’s home.

 

Just as she spotted another door at the end of the corridor, Rey heard a manly grunt, followed by a slow exhalation. She paused as she listened warily, her hand hovering over the handle. There it was again - a groan of effort and slow release of air. It sounded... well, frankly, like porn.

 

Rey shook herself. She shouldn’t be lurking in the hallway like a weirdo listening to her housemate/employer breathing but, seriously, was he masturbating in there? Or was he just working out? Summoning her courage, she knocked softly. She heard a metallic clicking, followed by, “Rey? Why are you knocking? Just come in!” as Ben called through the door, sounding amused.

 

She put her head around the door and muttered, “Morning,” as she smoothed a stay hair off her forehead.

 

Unsurprisingly, Ben was wearing all black - a tight shirt with fitted pants. She, on the other hand, was not dressed to impress, wearing an old blue t-shirt and even older grey tights paired with hot pink sneakers. Ben was sat up on the weight bench near the window, having apparently just bench pressed the weight of a small car.

 

To avoid looking at the deliciously sweaty slab of beefcake that was her _boss_ , Rey glanced around the room. It was a well-equipped gym - an elliptical machine and a rower were lined up against the wall, and a metal frame near the door held a variety of weights and attachments for all manner of exercises.

 

“I might just start on the elliptical, if that’s okay?” Rey asked, trying not to sound nervous, and Ben nodded as he wiped his face with a towel. Rey stretched her legs for a few minutes and shook her arms out a little, then hopped onto the elliptical machine, grasping its handles firmly and carefully positioning her feet. Ben wasn’t playing any music while he worked out, seeming to prefer the quiet, but Rey liked a good beat to exercise to. There wasn’t much to distract her from Ben’s porno breathing soundtrack and her unhelpful inner monologue.

 

The previous evening had gone surprizingly well, much better then she’d expected, and it hadn’t felt that different than hanging out with Finn. Well maybe a bit different - her skin still tingled after Ben had touched her face, when he’d cradled her jaw with one of his big warm hands. Finn’s touch had never made her skin tingle.

 

Rey tried to focus on setting a steady pace on the elliptical, and not on Ben doing Russian twists with a red kettlebell. Just as beads of sweat were gathering at her hairline, she heard the sound of skin hitting skin. Was he clapping?

 

She turned slightly, to see Ben in her peripheral doing push-ups, springing up to clap his palms together in the up section. ‘Think of something else, for the love of god!’ her better sense begged, whilst the dumber, hornier region of her brain was advocating getting underneath him as soon as humanly possible. With great effort, she snapped her attention back to the wall. God, she was so fucked, but at the same time nowhere near fucked enough.

 

“Don’t go too hard, I have a different workout in mind,” Ben panted, as he stretched out his thick arms. There was no response. “Rey?”

 

Hearing him this time, she turned to see Ben squinting at her as if she’d grown a second head. “Sorry, haven’t completely woken up yet,” she stammered, with an airy little hand wave as if she could’ve brushed away her spacing-out. “Other workout?” she croaked.

 

“The driveway is snowed in, we’re going to have to dig the car out,” he said plainly, clearly oblivious to her inner turmoil.

 

“Oh,” she said, clearing her throat. “Right, right. Okay.” Hopefully the rosiness could be blamed on exercise.

 

“I’m going to hit the shower,” he told her as he left, flexing and stretching all the way. Rey thumped her head on the handle of the exercise machine. She had to calm her thirsty arse down. Using her UST to fuel her workout, she pushed herself through her paces until she left the gym twenty minutes later, when she discovered a freshly showered Ben in the kitchen. He offered her a large glass of water and a cup of tea as she walked in, and she was exasperated to note that this unsweaty, non-panting version of him was no less attractive, dressed in his charcoal coloured Sheriff’s uniform. Rey thanked him for the drinks and decided that if she was going to make it through the month she was going to have to find her own place. Damn it.

 

“I’m making scrambled eggs. Did you want some?” He asked as he made his coffee. God, how had she ever thought he was a fuckwit? He was such a cinnamon roll! She had to keep her head here or she’d be mooning around like a lovesick teenager. It wasn’t as if he was the first built guy she been around.

 

To cover the Mothra-sized tummy butterflies Ben was generating in her chest, she was definitely going to have to take the coldest shower she could stand without getting hypothermia, she decided as she knocked back the glass of water in one gulp.

 

“Remember, Doph has your uniform - just wear whatever, you can change at the office,” he called to her retreating back.

 

She showered and dressed in a cozy red sweater and jeans, then followed the enticing scents back to the kitchen. Ben was buttering toast, and nudged a plate of scrambled eggs and toast across the island towards her. As she sat down to enjoy her breakfast, she accidentally wondered out loud, “How are you still single?”

 

Ben stilled, intensely studying his breakfast. “I’m an emotionally crippled, megalomaniacal, narcissistic turd,” he intoned, with a distressingly straight face. “And that’s a direct quote.”

 

“Yeah, but you can _cook_ ,” Rey said as she speared another forkful of eggs from the plate. “Who taught you?”

 

“I did. Han wasn’t exactly a chef, so I watched Julia Child, accidentally set few things on fire and worked it out. I enjoy cooking,” he shrugged. “It’s a good stress reliever.”

 

“Well, I can’t argue with your results,” she said appreciatively, “this is delicious.” She tried to eat with a little more decorum than just wantonly shovelling the fluffy, well-seasoned eggs into her mouth.

 

Rey hadn’t missed Ben’s pitying expression whenever she ate, but habits learnt over a lifetime were difficult to break - one of Plutt’s favourite punishments had been to withhold food. The memory of gnawing hunger wasn’t easily shed... but maybe now she could put her past behind her.

 

“Hey,” Ben interrupted her thoughts gently. “The eggs okay?”

 

She gave him a sunny, unaffected grin.

 

“They’re perfect,” Rey told him honestly. “Thank you,” she told him, and took a bite of toast to avoid talking for a while. Ben seemed to take the hint and continued to heartily tuck into his breakfast.

 

After they’d eaten, they emerged from the cozy warmth of the house into the bitter predawn which, like the desert, was tranquil and still, the only sound being the breeze rustling through the pine trees. Until Ben started the snow blower. Rey started the laborious task of digging the garage doors free as Ben pushed the deafening machine up and down the driveway, and after while Rey was feeling warm in her coat. Straightening up, she unzipped her jacket halfway to let in a little cooler air and noticed a drift of snow blocking the front door, so she began dig.

 

Ben apparently hadn’t realised she’d moved, and turned the blower so that the funnel was now pointing straight at her. Rey shrieked at the sudden shower of frigid snow pelting her back.

 

“Oh fuck..! I’m so sorry!” he bellowed, over the machine’s roar. He sure didn’t look like he was sorry - his generous mouth was stretched taunt with suppressed laughter as he fumbled to shut the snow blower off.

 

“You did that on propose!” she wailed accusingly, gathering a handful snow and advancing on him. Ben’s hands flew up reflexively as he turned away, but not before her snowball hit him in the shoulder.

 

“Oh, it’s on!” he taunted as he scooped a large handful, just as Rey hurriedly bent down to compact another missile to hurl at him. There wasn’t really enough time to make proper snowballs, so they quickly descended into giddy giggles as they started throwing loose fistfuls of snow at each other.

 

The space between them became a battleground until a snowball caught Rey in the back of the head. “Ouch! You cockwomble! That hurt.”

 

“I’m a what?” Ben sputtered, immediately stilling. “What did you just call me?” He looked and sounded angry.

 

Oh, holy shit balls. She’d been employed for one fricken’ day, and she’d just called her boss a cockwomble. She opened her mouth but her voice seemed to have disappeared. All the couch coziness over dinner and his attentiveness had blinded her to the big neon sign screaming ‘He is your superior officer!’

 

“What did you say about my cock?” He asked, his voice pitched to a deep timbre that registered in the primal parts of Rey’s brain as ‘you’ve upset a very large male in a remote location and you’re all alone’. A cold shiver of apprehension slid over Rey skin, and she backed up a step.

 

Ben surged forward, catching her around the knees and heaving her over his shoulder. He spun them both around, jostling and bouncing her like a massively overgrown puppy. “Tell me, Rey, or I’m throwing you into that drift.”

 

“No, no...I’m sorry! Forget I said anything,” she shouted, glad to be slung over his shoulder, where he wouldn’t be able to see her relieved expression.

 

“Fine. If you won’t tell me,” he huffed, “I’m going to google it.” He fished in his pocket for his phone.

 

“No wait, don’t!” she cried, desperately scrambling to get off of him, but he held her legs firmly against his chest. She wiggled and tried to reach over his head, and it didn’t escape her notice how silky his thick hair felt underneath her hand, even as her other one attempted to claw his phone from his grasp.

 

He dropped her gently to her feet while he held the phone over his head and, directing his speech towards the phone, he asked, “Hey Siri, what is a ‘cockwomble’?” It sounded extremely weird in an American accent.

 

Rey leapt up, dangling from his arm while Siri talked about shellfish - the app had misheard and was busily describing the meaning of ‘cockles’. Ben sighed, apparently unfazed by Rey’s attempts at doing a chin-up on his bicep - like the ‘kitty in the hang in there’ meme, as he stabbed at the phone screen with his index finger.

 

“Is it B-L-E, or B-E-L?” he asked, ignoring her furious batting at the phone. He read out loud, “Okay. A foolish or obnoxious person. I’m very wounded, Rey,” he said earnestly, with a hand over his heart. Rey’s cheeks were flushed - what with the sudden swerve from laughter to terrified panic, and whatever the hell this feeling was, Rey felt...light? Like a warm soft light was gradually filling her up from her chest out. She swayed slightly and Ben’s hand instantly stretched out to take her upper arm.

 

“Hey, are you okay?” The sun was rising over his shoulder and the awakening daylight stretched across the lower sky, tinting it lilac and pink. The intoxicating view led Rey to wonder whether she really was okay.

 

“Yeah, I’m good. We’d better get moving,” she said, stepping out of his light hold. “You know that was my first snowball fight” she added.

 

“Really?” He said, clearly astonished.

 

“I grew up in the desert, you dork.”

 

“Yeah, but it’s snowed in Las Vegas before.”

 

“A dusting! Nothing like this,” she said in awe as she indicated her surroundings, admiring the white-trimmed trees surrounding the house.

 

“Wait until we’re at the end of April and still freezing our collective asses off,” he grumbled, popping the Durango’s door open.

 

The soundtrack to their drive into town was supplied by Michael Bublé and a perky feminine voice crooning ‘Baby it’s cold outside’. Rey spotted the pained expression on Ben’s face.

 

“What?” she smirked at him. “What’s wrong with this song?”

 

“It’s kind of... I don’t know,” he said, squirming in his seat. “It’s sleazy, don’t you think?” He cringed for a moment or two, then continued, “He’s pressing her to have sex and she’s asking if he drugged her drink. Real Yuletide fun there,” he snarled sarcastically.

 

She winced at his tone. “I never really thought about it that way. You’re right, but you pull faces though all Christmas music,” she told him, as they pulled into the space in front of the sheriff’s station. She crunched her feet into the snow of the car park. “Why do you hate Christmas so much?” she asked across the bonnet of his car.

 

“I don’t hate it,” he said. “Have you talked to Finn and Rose yet?”

 

“Nooo!” She moaned. “We’re dissecting your issues, not mine,” she told him.

 

“Its a small town, Rey. You don’t want them to find out through gossip,” he said as he opened the door. He rested his shoulder against the frame “They’re your best friends Rey, go talk to them.”

 

Her gut twisted, as anxiety clawed at her edge of brain. He was right - they were her best friends, but an old fear reared up. “What if...”

 

“Hey, hey! They’re going to be angry, yeah, but there are worse things than someone being angry with you. You’re not going to be alone,” he said, his whiskey-coloured eyes shining.

 

Rey opened her mouth to speak, but her courage failed her. She wanted to tell him that he wasn’t alone either, but she wasn’t quite there yet...


	16. Chapter 16

 

“Have you lost your ever-loving mind?!” Finn shrieked, making several people sitting in the diner bobble their coffees. Rose stuck her head though the pass, the narrow window separating the kitchen from the servicing area and the rest of the main dining space.

 

“Will you two keep it down!” She hissed.

 

“Finn, please just calm down,” she begged, thinking that wearing her brand new deputy’s uniform to the diner might’ve been a tactical error.

 

But Rose turned on Rey, struggling to keep her voice down. “Did you have to do this now? In the middle of the breakfast rush! Seriously?”

 

Rey held her palms wide in a placating gesture. “Finn, it’s okay! Ben didn’t kill anyone, I know. I thought so at first, but I now know he didn’t.”

 

“Rey, you disappeared for two days, then Rose tells me yesterday that she saw you in Solo’s car and I’m like no way would she ever get into a car with that jerk!” He swept his hands out wide, knocking a jar of mayonnaise off the counter, which Joseph caught before it hit the floor. The poor kid escaped the awkwardness of having to witness the argument by going out and emptying the trash.

 

“I was wrong,” she admitted. “And you’re burning those eggs.”

 

The sunny side up eggs and bacon were a lost cause, nothing but a nasty black mess on Finn’s pristine hot plate, and he grumpily scraped the burnt offering onto a plate with disgust while continuing to berate her. At least he was keeping his voice down. “Please tell me you aren’t doing some kind of hare-brained undercover thing, trying to get close to him to get evidence? ‘Cause that’s how you end up as story on Dateline,” he hissed, while dumping the remains into the food waste bin then resentfully turning back to the grill.

 

Rey rubbed a hand across her forehead in frustration. This wasn’t what she came here for. “I need your help! Kadel needs your help,” she pleaded. “You’re friends with Poe - did he say how he and Kaydel communicated? I’ve been thinking about it. They would’ve wanted to talk when they where apart?”

 

Finn cleared his throat. “He told me that he’d given her a cell phone, I already told that to Detective Knight.”

 

“They can’t have found it..?”

 

“’Cause your boyfriend didn’t tell you about it?” Finn sniped as he put more bacon on the hot plate.

 

Rey stared at him, a shameful heat making her blink. She whirled around to leave. “Sod you!” she said furiously. “How dare you talk to me like that!”

 

“Rey!” Finn called out, his fingers closing gently around her fingers. “I’m sorry, please. I’m so sorry. I’m just scared. We couldn’t find you on Sunday - we thought Solo might’ve done something to you, and now you’re working for him?” He said, looking apprehensive. “We just want to know what happened. How did you go from ‘he’s bumping off his family members’ to ‘he wouldn’t hurt a fly’ in one weekend?”

 

“He saved my life, Finn,” she admitted quietly as she watched him put bread on to toast.

 

Finn’s eyebrows drew together. “What? What do you mean?”

 

She leaned heavily against the kitchen island, deciding to gloss over the more blood-curdling aspects of the terrifying experience. “Ben saved my life. I can’t talk about what happened right now, but we think the same person who murdered Mrs Connix also tried to kill me.”

 

“How do you know it wasn’t Solo who tried to kill you, huh? You don’t know it wasn’t him!” Finn said, flipping the bacon with more aggression than necessary.

 

“I trust him, Finn, and I don’t need your permission to do it,” she said flatly. Finn deftly cracked eggs on the hot plate. “Did Poe talk about Kaydel much, I mean her personality?” Rey asked, hoping to get onto a safer subject.

 

Finn kept his eyes on his work. “He said her mother had groomed her to be her nursemaid, telling her that all men are rapists, and made her terrified of going outside the house.”

 

“Shit. So, if she was, like, stashed in a cabin somewhere, she’d probably be too afraid to leave,”

Rey muttered.

 

“That’s if she’s even alive,” Finn added grimly as he placed the two plates of bacon, eggs and toast on the pass. Rose swiftly scooped them up to ferry them to her hungry patrons.

 

Rey’s radio crackled to life as Doph asked her to come back to the station. “I got to go.” Finn nodded but didn’t look at her. Ben was wrong - having Finn and Rose angry with her was hell. She left the kitchen and made to leave the diner.

 

“Rey wait!” Rose called out as she rounded the counter, holding out a full four-cup takeaway coffee holder containing Ben’s travel mug. “Ben’s coffee order. And take this.” She fished out an old iPhone from her pocket.

 

“It was my sister’s. I know you keep saying you’ll get one when you can afford it, but he was really scared when we couldn’t find you. Please, just take it,” she said, her dark eyes shining.

 

Rey thoughtfully turned the phone over in her hand. Paige Tico had died just three years before and Rey didn’t want to take a single momento of Rose’s sister away from her friend, but she felt horrible for making them worry.

 

“Okay, thanks Rose,” she said gratefully, and gave the much shorter woman a quick squeeze before stepping out into the wintery morning. As she hustled back to the office deep in thought about Kaydel, it pained her to think that the girl was out there somewhere, terrified by the thought of standing under this perfect robin’s egg blue sky. The lampposts were decorated with evergreen wreaths and in the distance she could see that a Christmas tree was being erected in the town square. It was like stepping into a hallmark Christmas movie, and she got some curious looks and smiles as she went about her duties, but nothing felt remotely like aggression. This was a nice place, a community which Las Vegas could never hope to be.

 

The Sheriff’s office was squat brick building with a sign over the front door announcing ‘Estoria Sheriff Department’ in bold block print. Inside, Doph’s Christmas tree was the only nod to the season - a colourful and madcap mixture of ornaments, from handmade paper origami stars and delicate antique baubles, to more quirky modern decorations such as, for example, the strange lumpy green ornament that was hidden deep in the high branches that faced the wall.

 

“Doph, can I asked why you have a pickle on the tree?” Rey ventured, as she took off her coat. “I meant to ask yesterday but I didn’t get a chance.” She’d been trying to find something to talk about with Ben’s frosty office manager for a while.

 

Doph’s sleek eyebrows did a little contortion act - both rose slightly as he frowned and the right one quirked up as he said, “You saw it? You’re the first! Neither Poe nor Ben saw it. It’s a German tradition to hang a pickle ornament on the tree on Christmas Eve. The first kid to find it on Christmas morning gets an extra gift from Santa.”

 

“That’s such a sweet tradition! So your family’s German?” Rey asked.

 

“Well my Omi is, my maternal grandmother,” he sighed. “She’s very German.”

 

Rey wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that and there was no polite way of asking what he meant by ‘really German’ - was his grandmother a nazi? She dropped the subject like a hot potato. Doph, on the other hand, continued, appearing to warm to the subject of Christmas tree decorations.

“Do you know the story behind tinsel?” he asked as he pointed to the tree, which was liberally draped in ribbons rather than the long streamer type often seen wrapped around Christmas trees.

 

“A mother was cleaning the house for Christmas and the spiders all hid. When they came out, they saw the Christmas tree decked out and they climbed all over it, to look at how beautiful it was. But they accidentally covered the tree in their webs. Saint Nicholas saw this, and knew the family would be sad to see their tree covered in dirty cobwebs, so he changed the webs to silver and gold,” Doph said, arms crossed over his chest as he balanced his butt on the edge of his desk.

 

Rey smiled at him as he bashfully shrugged. “Christmas is my favourite time of year.”

 

The two sets of heavy footfalls drew their attention.

 

“There you are!” Ben said. “Everything okay?” he asked, and Rey noticed Doph’s eyebrows beginning to rise in her peripheral as she handed Ben his coffee. “Thank you,” he said warmly. Doph’s eyebrows scaled even higher on his forehead.

 

Rey went to pass one of the cups to Dom, when Ben interjected.

 

“No, that’s your tea,” he said to her, and she detected a hint of something playful in his voice but she didn’t know what could be amusing him. There were only four cups in the container, one had Sk p/mint ML written on the lid in Rose’s distinctive loopy script. “Skinny peppermint mocha latte?” she deciphered.

 

Doph’s eyebrows were about to merge with his hairline. “You bought me a coffee? You’ve never bought me a coffee.”

 

“Yes I have,” Ben said offhandedly.

 

“No. No you haven’t, Ben.” Doph accepted his paper cup of caffeinated Christmas cheer with an air of suspicion and surprise.

 

“Yes, I have,” Ben responded, a hint of growl in his deep voice.

 

“Who is the other one for then?” Rey asked, starting to give one to Dom, but Ben intercepted the cup.

 

“Those are for Snap and Jesse,” he said as he replaced the cup in the holder.

 

“You didn’t get Detective Knight one? That’s kind of a dick move, Ben.”

 

The instant she said it, she pressed her lips together as her heart dropped with a thud into her gut. Oh no, she had to remember to separate housemate Ben from employer Ben!

 

“May I have a word in private, Deputy Jakku?” Rey’s heart slid to her feet.

 

They stepped into Ben’s office. As he shut to door behind them, Rey blurted out, “I’m so sorry! That was unprofessional.”

 

Ben interrupted, speaking low, almost purring as he said, “That’s the second time this morning you’ve brought up penises, Deputy Jakku. Is there something on your mind?”

 

Rey was speechless for a few moments before stammering, “I didn’t.”

 

“Yes you did.”

 

“No I didn’t!” Her temper was rising. “I called you a cockwomble which, at the moment, is pretty bloody accurate, and that was a dick move to exclude Detective Knight!”

 

“Wait, wait! Last night he was Dom, now he’s Detective Knight. What happened?”

 

“Nothing,” she said, sounding supremely unconvincing. She had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact as he loomed above.

 

“Rey?” he growled softly, his round rich brown eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

 

“Nothing happened. He asked me to dinner, that’s all. And it’s not like you’ve got much room to be indignant here!”

 

Ben blinked as he took her meaning. She could see the wheels turning behind his eyes, attempting to find a some higher moral ground from which to defend himself. His mouth pursed and he swallowed thickly.

 

“Good point, but next time call me a dick, do it at home. Alright?”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Dom and I are going to conduct some more interviews with some of Mrs Connix’s, for lack of a better word, ‘friends’,” he said, visibly shuddering. “Then we’ll be updating Mr Connix on the state police’s involvement. You’re holding down the fort, okay?”

 

“I’m not part of the investigation?” she asked, hoping it didn’t sound like whining.

 

“The town doesn’t stop even for a murder/kidnapping. People will still need a sheriff’s department. If you need me, you call - got it? Do not take any risks.”

 

Rey nodded. “Okay.” She was the junior officer, she had to do as she was told. She pulled Paige Tico’s phone from her pocket. “Rose loaned me a phone so I’ll get a SIM card today and I’ll text you the number.”

 

Ben’s wide lips twisted into a smirk, which dropped like a stone when she told him she was giving her cup of tea to the detective. Just as she opened the door, he said, “No you’re not!”

 

“Yes I am,” she retorted.

 

“Rey, no.”

 

“Rey, yes,” she snarked as she passed her tea to Dom with a caustic smile. He accepted with an expression that looked worryingly like renewed hope.

 

Doph finished his coffee and his eyebrows waggled as he wondered if it was possible to die of overexposure to sexual tension.

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so a wild sex scene appears but it’s not Rey and Ben, its between Hux and Tallie!
> 
> I’ve been told by my editor that this squeaks some people out, I get that but it’s a important plot point in my story. The scene isn’t terribly graphic but as Shirl put it you don’t want to hear about Hux’s cock, skip down to the asterisk. :) 
> 
> This is the calm before the storm, so I hope you’ll stick with me. 
> 
> Lots of love Birdie.

 

The effects of a crime in a small community start in the centre, with the people who are directly affected, rippling outwards like a rock thrown into a still pond as it touches everything in the water.

 

In the week since Kaydel Connix had disappeared, Tallie Lintra was awoken by nightmares more than once. She would refuse to go back to sleep until she’d checked that her daughters were safe and the house sealed up tight. Armitage would diligently ensure that each window and door was locked, even though he’d already checked before he’d gone to bed, fully aware that the house’s security alarm would be tripped if an intruder did manage to get in. He knew he’d do anything in the world to make her feel safe.

 

Armitage stood at the twins’ bedroom door, silently watching as she tenderly brushed a finger down one of Maeve’s apple cheeks, pulling the blanket up, before slipping quietly as a ghost over to Erin’s cot to place her palm gently against her baby’s chest, just to reassure herself that the tranquil child was breathing. Erin snuffed and sighed deeply but didn’t wake.

 

“You are so beautiful,” he said in a barely audible whisper, into the stillness of the room. “Come to back to bed,” he asked, holding his hands out for hers. She nodded, allowing him to lead her back to his... their room. Hux cupped her cheek with his free hand, dragging his thumb over her full bottom lip and gently pulling it down to expose the soft wet flesh inside, feeling his body respond. He paused a scant few inches away from kissing her, mutely asking for permission, and Tallie closed the distance between them. Even after all these months, he still marvelled at the fact that she’d agreed to marry him, and it still felt like a miracle that he was even permitted to kiss her.

 

This was the happily ever after he never believed his future could hold, he thought, as his hands cupped her face. Tangling his fingers in her hair, he deepened the kiss and her arms draped over his shoulders, drawing him close as the softest moan escaped her.

 

He touched his forehead gently against hers. “Still alright?” he asked, needing to hear her say the words, that she wanted him.

 

Tallie looked at him with a heat blooming in her blue eyes. “Yes.”

 

Maintaining eye contact, he gently brushed her dressing gown from her shoulders. “How about now?” he teased, with a hint of a smirk on his lips as he traced the graceful line of her collar bones with his fingertip. She took his hand and pressed it to her breast.

 

“Armitage, make love to me,” she sighed, amused but frustrated by his tentativeness. His hands rose to cradle her face as he kissed his fiancée.

 

“You’re so precious to me,” he murmured against her lips. Tallie backed him up until his knees touched the edge of the bed and he sank backwards onto the covers. She pulled her nightgown over her head and loosened her hair, allowing it to cascade around her shoulders.

 

He didn’t deserve her, he thought dreamily as he teased her nipples into dark rosy peaks with his lips and tongue, not minding the taste of sweet milk that beaded up at his attentions.

 

He almost purred at the sensation of her hands raking through his hair, making it stand up in wild spikes, as his clever fingertips gathered her wetness and slowly circled until his fingers glided easily in and out of her. He could felt her legs beginning to tremble against his.

 

“Lay back,” she growled softly and he did as he was directed. Tallie crawled up the length of his body, pausing to lick, nuzzle and kiss at the spots on his skin that she loved best, to claim his mouth with his own. He loved her dominating him like this, and his hips thrust up to press his still-clothed hips against her. She took the hint and rose to her knees to enable him to wiggle out of his pyjama pants and briefs. “This comes off too!” she ordered, reefing his t-shirt over his head.

 

Tallie took him in hand, positioning him just inside her, and sank down slowly, causing Armitage to throw his head back and moan at the sensation. He definitely didn’t deserve her, he thought again, opening his eyes to take in the sight of the angel riding him. His gaze raked over her greedily - the way her breasts bounced with each impact, the lush curves of her hips as his hand stole up the length of her thighs to slide over her stomach and up to thumb her nipple.

 

Tallie’s eyes were closed, her lips open, as her soft groans accelerated his pace.

 

“I love you,” he choked out, so close, oh god he was close. Tallie’s eyes drifted open slightly, soft and beckoning, glinting in the muted light.

 

“Love...” Her words were reduced to a strangled cry as she crested. He followed, helpless as always to resist her.

 

Later, as Tallie lay curled against him with her head against his shoulder, he lazily toyed with a lock of her hair and asked, “Do you want to have other baby, maybe? After the wedding, I mean.”

 

Tallie raised her head slightly. “What if it’s another set of twins?” she asked.

 

“Then we’ll have four beautiful children,” he said simply, and kissed the top of her head.

 

 

*

 

While some made plans for the future, others were concerned only with the present. It was two in morning, and Dom was pacing backwards and forwards around the shitty motel’s probably noxious carpet. He kept his socks on because he didn’t want his skin to touch the nubby brown flooring, not even for a nanosecond. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face in a weary gesture.

 

This was the kind of case that would either be solved by the smallest clue, or it could just as easily stretch into years and become the one that haunts detectives for the rest of their lives.

 

He thumbed the edge of Kaydel Connix’s photo. They’d found it on Poe Dameron’s phone and it was estimated to be about two weeks old. She was a honey, with her fine-boned, delicate features dominated by wide brown eyes and surrounded a halo of wavy blonde hair. She reminded Dom of a doe, graceful and so easily broken.

 

The victim had been socially isolated, with no online presence. She didn’t have a bank account from which to track her movements, and the records from the phone given to her by Deputy Dameron showed only calls between herself, Dameron and her father. She was possibly the most unlikely person to come in contact with a killer by random happenstance.

 

Colette Connix, the murder victim, had a small social circle. Dom shuddered - ‘coven’ was a more appropriate term for that group of women...his butt still hurt from where Ms Mollbro had pinched it.

Mrs Connix had worked from home as book-keeper for local businesses, none of which were even slightly shady. Her home was paid for and she had little in the way of outstanding debts.

 

There was always the possibility that this was about Poe Dameron, but he was well-liked in general. Nothing jumped out in his personal life - he had a string of exes, but no one notable for being violent or unstable. No dubious movements in his bank accounts that might’ve hinted at debts or illegal activities.

 

He was a perfectly normal guy. He had a pilot’s license, lived within his means, his recent browser history was filled with search results about how to be a supportive partner to an abuse survivor, his taste in porn was vanilla. He frequented the local gym, where he was captain of the town basketball team for which he played point guard. He was a solid cop - maybe a bit of a hothead, but nothing that was a red flag.

 

Dom stretched out his back, lacing his fingers together and raising them over his head and holding the stretch for a few seconds. Dropping his arms back down, he gave them a little shake. He poured himself a glass of water from the faucet, took two of the all-natural sleep aid tablets his sister had told him worked for her, and got into bed.

 

Why would someone go after these three people? It wasn’t a random home invasion, not with this level of planning. The thought occurred to him that if anyone in this place was likely to attract someone with this kind of murderous intent, it would be Ben Solo. The gunshot ‘accident’ that was never fully explained and his involvement in the organised crime racket in Vegas. The scandal of Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker’s father had broken while Ben had been at the Academy - it couldn’t have been easy, finding out that your granddad had been a killer, a Cold War assassin. Maybe this was some kind vendetta? He sighed. Useless conjecture.

 

He had no evidence and no leads, just suppositions. Dom rubbed his hand against his forehead as though trying to rub away a mark on his skin.

 

He finally dropped off to sleep around four.

 

 

 

Some people sleep the whole night through. Rory Clegane was finally home from his month-long shift on an oil rig just offshore of New Orleans. His employer, King Oil, had bitched and moaned when he’d handed in his notice. Fuck that bunch of cunts. He was going home to Gwen. They had enough in the bank to start their own business, plus Rory had a reputation for being a first rate builder in the area - he already had several jobs and a small crew of builders lined up, ready to start after the thaw.

 

In his sleep, Rory draped a hand protectively over his unborn daughter, and Gwen shifted slightly but slept on.

 

 

 

And one woke again and prayed that God would watch over her and the ones she loved.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A oddly cosmopolitan menu for a rural town, Christmas fluff, a incomprehensible Glaswegian and more UST then you can shake a stick at. What more could anyone ask for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I’m posting this a little earlier because I’m heading out of town and will beyond the reach of my beloved wifi.

 

Ben and Rey were having polar opposite reactions to the Christmas night market.

 

The town square was bright with fairy lights and crowded with people, ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ blared from the speakers set up by the radio station and the delicious food scents wafting from food trucks and booths made the air redolent with spice and sweetness.

 

The tall, rail-thin mayor was wearing a Santa hat that clashed horribly with his gingery beard and bounced an adorable blonde child on his hip as he made a short and surprisingly eloquent speech welcoming everyone to the Christmas night market. He expressed his appreciation for the community’s support of the event, saying how, in light of recent events, it was a testament to the spirit of the town and added that there was to be a collection for the Connix family. As he spoke, he gently tried to prevent his little girl from grabbing the microphone. A pretty blonde woman with a matching toddler on her hip greeted Mayor Hux with a kiss and then, together, they helped their twins switch on the Christmas tree lights. The tree was easily ten feet high, smothered in twinkling multi-coloured fairy lights and topped with a glittery star.

 

Rey glanced around the market, her eyes taking in all the happy people surrounding her, happy families...giving her a bittersweet feeling, a blending of envy and genuine contentment. She was on her own in this joyful winter scene, but maybe this was the last Christmas she would be alone.

 

“Hungry?” Ben’s smoky voice said, really close to her ear and making her jump a bit. He had to bend at the waist to get to her ear level. “What do you feel like? Rose has Bánh mì - judging by the line, they must be pretty good, or Maz has a stall? By the smell, I think she’s made Hotteok.”

 

“I don’t know what either of those words mean, but okay, it smells good,” she said, hopping slightly from one foot to the other and rubbing her hands together.

 

“Cold?”

 

“Obviously,” Rey snarked. “What keen deductive powers you have! I am so privileged to be your apprentice,” she deadpanned.

 

His soft wide lips pursed into a smirk. “Easy there, feisty,” he said, while digging about in the many pockets of his jacket.

 

He pulled out a plastic package with an air of triumph as she exclaimed, “Did you just call me ‘feisty’?”

 

“It’s easier to say than ‘belligerent’,” he told her dryly. “Pocket heat pads. You give them a squeeze and break the capsule inside. When the chemicals mix they make heat. Put them in your pockets.”

 

He offered them to her, teasing her by pulling them away from her before giving them back. “Bánh mì is a type of bread roll stuffed with spicy chicken or pork and salad, Hotteok are a kind of fried Korean pancake filled with cinnamon sugar and nuts,” he told her, warming to his teacher role as they made a slow circuit of the square, passing by all the stalls with customers flitting between the outdoor gas heaters with all their shopping and food in hand.

 

“Dinner and dessert then?” she told him. “I’ll get the Bánh mì and you get the Hotteok.” He gave her a decisive nod, but his face then shifted to a more wary expression that had Rey instinctively looking over her shoulder.

 

An extremely tall blonde was bearing down on them, wearing a sweater featuring a Christmas pudding that sat direct over her baby bump, giving it a three dimensional effect. An even taller, scruffy-looking bearded man was behind her, making long strides to keep up. She drew closer and arrived in front of them, and Rey had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact with the giantess. Rose must have a permanent crick in her neck, with all the tall people in this town.

 

“Hello, I’m Gwen Phasma,” she announced, thrusting her hand forward. “And you are…?”

 

“Rey Jakku,” said Rey, surrendering her hand, and she was pretty sure all the bones inside of it crumpled when the Valkyrie shook it. But, clearly, this was a test. So she squeezed back, although it seemed to have little effect.

 

With a dazzling smile, Gwen asked, though clenched teeth, “Can I borrow him?” and didn’t wait for an answer before frog-marching off with Ben, leaving Rey with a yet unnamed person who could, given their location, quite possibly be Bigfoot.

 

“Hi. I’m Rey,” Rey said, offering her hand. The Bigfoot cocked a dark eyebrow and said something that could have been... Rory? He turned his attention back to Ben and Gwen. She hadn’t really connected the two names in her mind - the kids at school must’ve had a field day with that. Judging by the hand gestures and body language, Gwen wasn’t any happier with Rey’s taking the deputy job than Finn and Rose had been.

 

“Dinna fash yirself,” he grumbled. It took Rey a moment to translate his thick Glaswegian accent. “Silly cunt haes some dunderheided notion in her heid. Did ye norc tha biggin’ flat oan ’is arr-us?”

 

Rey blinked, taking a few more moments to respond. “Oh yeah, I did knock him on his arse.” Thank god for Billy Connolly, that would have sounded like complete gibberish if Plutt hadn’t listened to his tapes. “Aye, guid fur ye lass.”

 

Ben and Gwen rejoined them, Rory greeting Ben with the following, “Alright, fannybaws? Weel ye'v git a gob on yah lik' a meltin’ wellie.”

 

Ben’s long face was devoid of expression as he leant towards Gwen and, speaking out of the side his mouth, whispered, “It’s like he’s trying to communicate...”

 

“Fuck ewe, ya useless cunt,” Rory grunted.

 

“Well! I think we’ll all understood that,” Gwen said flatly. “Rory, I’d dearly love for our daughter’s first word to not be ‘cunt’.”

 

“Sae, I’m nae allowed tae speak anymair?” he grumbled.

 

The skinny mayor bounced into the middle of this awkward little tête-à-tête, carrying his daughter, who seemed determined to strangle him with his own scarf. He was almost vibrating with joy, gently batting the little girl’s hands away.

 

“Hello! I thought I’d come introduce myself - Armitage Hux,” he announced cheerily, though he grimaced when he said his name as though it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Call me Arm - it’s a terrible nickname, but I’m afraid that there not much you can do with ‘Armitage’,” he shrugged. “I’d like you to meet my fiancée Tallie Listra and this is Erin and this little sweetie here is Maeve,” he said, the affection and pride very evident in his voice.

 

“Rey Jakku,” Rey offered.

 

“Yes, Ben’s new deputy.” There was something in his tone that sounded...slightly miffed? Should Ben have asked Arm’s permission before employing her? Her gaze cut to Ben, who seemed to be narrowing his eyes at Hux.

 

“I can’t run the department on my own, Arm,” he said evenly. “Unless you’re volunteering for the job?” Hux paled slightly at the very suggestion.

 

“Everyone having a good time?” Arm asked, dropping back into his exuberant mode.

 

“Aye ah wis braw 'til ye opened yer geggy, ye weaselhead fucknugget,” Rory drawled.

 

“Always a pleasure, Clegane,” Arm said dryly, while cupping a hand over Erin’s ear and drawing her close. Rory didn’t appear to be remotely crushed by Hux’s condescension, cocking a thick dark eyebrow at him and appearing to smirk, though it was hard to tell with his thick beard.

 

“Well, these little pixies need to be fed... So we’ll see you later,” Tallie interjected diplomatically, hooking her arm though Hux’s and steering him away.

 

“Why do you go out of your way to annoy him?” Gwen asked in an exasperated tone.

 

“Fur he’s an eejit 'n' ah lik' telling ‘im tae pick a windae, yer leavin’.”

 

“Did he just call Hux a idiot?” Ben asked with his forehead wrinkled.

 

“Yes,” Gwen and Rey said in unison. Gwen looked at Rey now with renewed interest.

 

“Urr ye dane talking? I’m hungert!”

 

“Fine, we’ll get something to eat, but if I have to watch you eat another fucking chicken I’m going to throw up,” she huffed, and they both lumbered off with a wave.

 

 

The only part of this festive scene that made Ben feel remotely happy was the expression on Rey’s face, bundled up in the coat and beanie she’d borrowed from Poe. She was luminous under the gold-tinted lights and her unabashed delight at everything she saw was so beguiling. The warm smile never seemed to totally leave her lips, merely changing from small and wistful to a full-blown beam which made her eyes crinkle.

 

He on the other hand, was developing a nervous twitch near his left eye, and was starting to have a vivid fantasy about putting his foot through Gwen’s speakers when she played ‘All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth’. Ben could see the slightly malicious smile on the woman’s face, even from where he and Rey now stood, leaning against his car watching the crowd.

 

As they’d slowly made their way around the square, Ben had tried to keep his eyes out for trouble in the crowd, but his gaze kept returning to Rey. The expression when she saw Ade Peavey’s horse-drawn sleigh! She’d turned to face him, so excited, but had then realized that they were on duty, so they couldn’t have a go. She deflated so fast, his stomach dropped at sight of it.

 

He’d really been a prick about this whole Christmas thing, he thought as he picked at his sandwich.

 

“This sandwich tastes a bit odd - different, I mean, not bad,” Rey said, as she gave it a delicate sniff. “It’s delicious, but it tastes a bit strange.”

 

“It’s buttered with pâté instead of butter,” he offered.

 

“What’s pâté?”

 

“Finely ground chicken livers,” he replied, around a mouthful of Bánh mì. 

 

Rey wrinkled her nose but, after a moment, just shrugged and took another bite. The sandwich was really tasty after all. Rose came bustling over with four big takeaway cups.

 

“Hey I brought you both a little Christmas cheer!” she beamed, handing one to Rey. Rose looked like the happiest elf, her cheeks were pink with the cold and her brown eyes bright. Rey straightened up to greet her friend.

 

“Hi Rose!” She took the proffered cup. “What is it? You’re not trying to give us alcohol are you?” she asked, full of mock incredulity, and Rose gave a chuckle.

 

“I hope not! I just gave some to Lily, George and Joseph and they’re all underage. It’s just mulled hot apple cider, but it’s been selling like hot cakes so I thought I’d bring you some before we run out,” she said, passing a cup to Ben.

 

“Thanks, Rose. What do I owe you?”

 

“No, it’s Christmas! It’s just a thank you, for freezing your butts off in the cold,” she said as she left with a little wave. “I’m off to find Snap and Jessika.”

 

“Hang on, Rose,” Ben said, then spoke into his radio. After an answering tinny burble, he said, “They’re over at the ring-toss, near the gazebo.”

 

“Thanks, Ben,” she called as she hustled away.

 

“You’re kind of sweet when you’re not acting like a recently-woken grizzly bear,” Rey observed, taking a last bite of her roll.

 

“Don’t tell anyone, I beg you,” he drawled sardonically. “Well, Ms Jakku. Are you ready for another turn around the dance floor?”

 

Rey nodded to busy chewing to answer verbally. He took a sip of Rose’s drink, it was good - hot, citrusy, sweet with apple and cinnamon. It made nice change from the bitterness of black coffee. He could’ve used a drink, and thought he might have a glass of whisky before bed. The painfully familiar opening bars of The fucking Chipmunks Christmas song started - it was going to be a very large whisky.

 

“Do you still have room for pancakes?” Ben asked.

 

Rey sort of stretched her back and waist, as if making more room in her stomach. “Yep!” she said, popping the ‘P’ sound. He hid his grin behind his cup of cider, amused by her antics.

 

They walked around the square in a counter clockwise direction, occasionally stopping to introduce Rey to a few of the locals. It was nice, almost like a date, but not quite. He noticed that Rey kept looking up at the tree with big starry eyes.

 

He insisted on buying her Hotteok. Handing the scorching hot bundle over to her, he warned, “Don’t just bite into it, the filling is like fucking lava.”

 

“Yes, mother duck,” she teased.

 

“I am not a duck,” he said with indignation.

 

Rey gave a little chuckle. “You so are! You’ve been fussing over me for the last week. You’re a big mother duck, trying to take care of everyone.”

 

“Before, you called me a bear and now I’m a duck. That’s a downgrade.”

 

She peered up at him. “Physically, you’re a bear, and attitude-wise you, my friend, are a mummy duck,” she told him solemnly, but cracked and could no longer hide her smirk. He stood there, staring into her eyes for a long moment, barely a few inches apart as he watched the humour transform into something new. The colour in her rosy cheeks darkened and his eyes followed her tongue as it darted out to wet her lips.

 

“Ben! Are you going to take this or what?” Maz’s exasperated voice snapped him out of his trance, as she held out his Hottoek. She was pretty pissed about it - it was probably burning her hand.

 

“Thanks, Maz,” he said as he accepted the pancake and dumped some money in her hand. “Keep the change.”

 

She gave him an enigmatic smile, a knowing expression that had him wanting to back away.

 

They carefully munched on the steaming hot treats as they walked around, looking at the wares of the stalls and the food trucks. There was a stall that sold Christmas ornaments that kept Rey lingering for a while.

 

“Did you want to buy something?” he asked gently. She looked up at him with a carefree grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

 

“No point, I don’t have a tree,” she said, sounding as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

 

Ben’s phone suddenly rang, and a beat later Rey’s also vibrated. It was Ade Peavey

 

“Ben! I found Kaydel!” he cried.


	19. Chapter 19

 

 

Ade Peavey hadn’t been expecting to return home quite so soon.

 

He’d volunteered to take Lady, his mare, home when she’d thrown a shoe, deciding that Tramp (not his choice, he’d let their daughter name the horses), was strong enough to pull the sleigh on his own. His dog let out a lazy woof as it wandered over, wagging its tail pathetically. “Good work, Salty! That’ll scare off those burglars,” he mumbled sarcastically.

 

He pulled up in front of the stable and failed to notice the dark object laying motionless on the white landscape of snow as he opened the doors of the horse float, backing the placid animal out of the trailer.

 

“There’s a good girl, time for supper, hey?” he soothed, affectionately scratching her forehead and rubbing her ears. Looking up, he noticed the dark shape on the ground, and groaned in annoyance - one the kids had probably left the horse’s rug outside again. Thoughtless little shits. They wouldn’t leave their cellphones out to get ruined like that. He led Lady into the barn, taking time to settle her properly before retrieving the blanket.

 

He was a few feet away when he realised that it wasn’t a blanket at all – instead, it looked like a bundle of rags held together with duct tape. He bent down to pick it up and the gut-dropping realisation hit him. It was a body!

 

Long fair hair spilled out of the bundle, and Ade moved the torn piece of blanket wrapped around the face, muttering as he ripped off his gloves to anxiously feel for a heartbeat.

 

“Come on, Honey,” he coaxed. “You’ve done so well, come on.” He was nearly dizzy with relief when he detected a slow and weak pulse, but it was definitely there. He carefully dragged her back into the warmth of the barn, laying a horse blanket on the ground and putting another one over the top of her.

 

He grabbed his phone from the car and called 911, while plugging in the large heat pad, bought by his wife for the dog to lay on while they tended to the horses. He shoved the covers off to lay the heater over her chest, before rewrapping her in the thick blanket. The 911 operator asked him in a penetrating but measured tone whether she was breathing, and he leant over to put his ear to her mouth. He could hear a faint rasp of breath.

 

“Yes!” he shouted at the phone, after putting it on speaker.

 

“Okay, that’s good news,” the voice continued. “Now you just need to monitor her breathing and pulse. If she starts to choke, we’re going to need to roll her onto her side and place her in the recovery position. Do you know how to do that?”

 

“Yes, I did a first aid course last year.” He’d resented having to spending every Saturday doing it at the time, when he’d felt like it all just boiled down to common sense, but now he was so grateful for it. It wasn’t long before he heard the ambulance sirens, not far away now, and the operator told him to go outside and flag them down.

 

As soon as he hung up, he hastily dialled Ben Solo’s number.

 

 

Ben and Rey climbed out of the car, with Dom in tow. The ambulance was parked in front of the barn doors, the lights oscillating wildly over the uneven surface of the wooden structure, painting it in swathes of red and blues. Ade was inside with the two paramedics who were seeing to Kaydel, now wrapped in silvery blankets. For a ridiculous moment, Rey thought Kaydel reassembled a kebab.

 

“Ade?” Ben said gently. “Can you tell Detective Knight and Deputy Jakku what happened? I’ve just got to talk to Maisie Sella and Kate Unamo”

 

Ade recounted the events of that evening, while Ben spoke to the EMT. Ade worked while they talked, putting out fresh hay and water before running a curry comb over the horse’s dappled brown coat with deft strokes. Rey noticed it appeared to soothe the owner as much as the horse.

 

Ade’s phone rang, and he handed Rey the brush as he excused himself to answer. She could hear him saying, “Hey... I know I’ll be there soon ... No, no. I’m fine...” as he walked out of earshot.

 

The horse nudged Rey and whickered softly, clearly wanting more. “What do I do?” she asked Dom, who was still with her in the barn.

 

“Brush her coat - just the body, though. This brush is too course for her face and legs. Just brush circles on her flanks,” he told her.

 

The horse was a large animal, and Rey’s head was chin level with the mare’s back as she stepped gingerly inside the stall, placing her hand on its dappled brown and white coat. The sharp clip of hooves on the floor made her shift backwards uneasily.

 

“If you’re nervous, you’re going to make her nervous too,” Dom murmured as his hand gently enclosed hers, moving the comb over the mare’s coat. “Like this.” He was just behind her now, his mouth uncomfortably close to her ear. “Keep an even pressure, there you go.”

 

He moved her hand in sweeping strokes across the animal’s haunches. Rey had always liked the idea of horses, having gone through the usual pre-teen pony crush stage, but there wasn’t much room inside the stall and Rey was beginning to feel crowded. “Thanks, I think I’ve got it now,” she said, attempting to get a little space. Honestly, she was apprehensive enough about being so close to the horse, and Dom thought now was a good time to hit on her?

 

A voice cleared outside the stall, Ade was back. “I need to go pick up my family and my other horse. I was wondering if there was anything else you needed?”

 

Rey took advantage of Dom’s diverted attention and slid quietly out of the stall. Ben was stalking across the stable towards them, and the knot that had been tightening inside her slipped loose at the sight of him.

 

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to find an alternative way for your family to get back. I’d like to take you in for questioning,” Dom said.

 

Ade’s sandy eyebrows rose, and Ben’s face was a carefully neutral mask. Dominic Knight seemed to read both mens’ expression as a challenge. “Look, I don’t want to have to disturb a magistrate at this time of night, but I will,” he said testily.

 

“Too late,” Ade said with a cutting smile. “Adrian Peavy,” he said, extending his hand to shake Dom’s. “I’m the district magistrate.”

 

Ben’s wide mouth was set in a grim line. “If you could drop in tomorrow morning, Ade, I’d appreciate it. Say hello to Jennifer for me?”

 

“What ever you need, Ben, Deputy... Detective,” the older man said archly.

 

Rey cleared her throat delicately. “How’s Kaydel?”

 

“Still unconscious,” Ben said. “They’re going to stabilise her then fly her to Denver. She’s got severe frostbite on her feet - Harri and Amilyn have decent facilities here, but she’s going to need specialist care. Especially with the baby.”

 

“Is there any chance she’s going to be awake soon?” Dom asked.

 

“You’re talking to the wrong person,” Ben calmly stated.

 

“Guess I’m headed to Denver, then,” Dom said. “I’ll go with the ambulance to the hospital. Night Ben...Rey.”

 

With that, he half jogged to catch up with the EMT’s, who were carefully loading Kaydel into the ambulance. “How could she have got here? Do you think she someone dumped her here, or could she have escaped from where she was being held?” Rey pondered.

 

Ben chewed his lip before saying, “She was only lightly dressed - she’d wrapped herself in layers of blankets, newspapers and duct tape, so I’m thinking she might’ve escaped.”

 

Rey looked out at the dark winter woods. A breeze was picking up and fine flurry of snow was now drifting down, meaning Kaydel’s tracks would soon be erased. “How far could she have walked in this snow?” she asked as she followed him outside. The wind was an icy slap in the face after the comparative warmth of the barn.

 

“A fairly fit person can manage about one and half, maybe two miles-an-hour in snow.” His breaths were white. “So, maybe a ten mile search radius? We might find the place where she was being held, there’s not too much out here...” he trailed off, gazing out into the distance until he suddenly stood straighter, turning to look at her as a thought struck him. “The Meier’s place! Get in the car, quick.”

 

“Meier’s place! Should we call Jess and Snap for some backup?”

 

“Back up? Why? It’s only a hunch. We’ll just take a quick look around. It’s for sale - no one will be there,” he told her as they climbed into the car. “There’s a shotgun and a rifle in the back though, just in case,” he added as he buckled up and promptly sped out of the driveway.

 

The snowflakes were falling faster as they drove further out of town, the car’s headlights cutting into the deep black to reveal the twisting grey road. Neither of them spoke, and Ben finally turned the car down an almost completely snowed-in drive. “We’ll go in on foot,” he said as he parked.

 

They got out of the car and Ben handed Rey the shotgun. “Unless you’d prefer the rifle?”

 

“No, it’s fine,” she said, tilting her chin up. She bracing the pump-action tight to her shoulder and took a surreptitious steadying breath. “Which way?”

 

“I’ll go first. We’ll circle around through the woods.”

 

She nodded as they slipped into the tree line, and the snow crunched beneath their boots as the wind whistled through the pines. Rey kept watching their backs, scanning the forest as it enclosed them, whilst shards of light from the waxing moon occasionally broke through the canopy, illuminating their faces. He looked otherworldly in this light, his already pale skin bleached to bone white.

 

His dark gaze was busily surveying the terrain ahead, prickling her skin when he suddenly fixed those bottomless eyes on her, and he reached out to squeeze her shoulder in a comforting gesture. She leaned into his touch slightly, responding by raising her hand to run it over his arm, wordlessly reassuring him in return.

 

The wind changed direction, bringing with it the scent of burning plastic and gasoline


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And suddenly I am writing a Hallmark Christmas movie.

 

The small guest house at the far rear of the Meier’s property was now just a burnt-out husk of charred wood.

 

What was left of its door now hung languidly from its hinges, still smoking slightly; Ben reached out and lightly touched the handle, feeling its scorching heat even through his gloves. Inside, a few things were only just recognisable - a fridge, a microwave, the remains of a single bed.

 

They’d seen it as soon as they’d emerged from the woods, and had run through the snow towards the fearsome blaze. The acrid smoke had billowed menacingly into the night sky, preventing them getting closer, and Rey ran over to the main house to see if she could find something to get the flames under control. She found a faucet, but no hose, and she realized in frustration that it wouldn’t have made any difference even if there had been one.

 

She’d dejectedly wandered back over to Ben, who was on the phone to 911. It was all hopeless. The little building had been fully engulfed by the time the fire engine arrived, its structure already lost and roof collapsed.

 

Ben now glanced at Rey, who looked dead on her feet as she spoke to one of the firefighters. He rubbed his eyes, the smoke had made them feel tired and gritty, and fought the urge to just drag her to the car and drive home. He’d quickly acclimatized to having her around. To coming home to her, to having someone to speak to at the end of his day, to making meals for her, to the scent of her shampoo in the bathroom...

 

Instead, they’d spend an uncomfortable night in the car watching over the site. Snap and Jess would be relieving them in the morning, and the chief fire examiner wouldn’t be able to get there until mid-morning, but the scent of gasoline was still pungent - there was little doubt this was arson. Ben was sure this was where Kaydel had been held. He wasn’t a big believer in coincidence.

 

 

 

Well before the sun rose, Doph was standing in his kitchen, pouring boiling water into a small thermos. A pair of arms wrapped around his waist and the delicious rasp of a beard brushed his ear, making him shiver.

 

“Hey,” a sleep-roughed voice growled, before kissing the smooth patch of skin behind his ear. Snap grumbled, “Who are you making coffee for anyway? It’s too early. Come back to bed.”

 

“I’m just heating up the thermos. Would you get Rose to make the coffee? She’s the only person who can make it to Ben’s standards. If you gave Ben my coffee... well, I don’t do that kind thing to people I like.”

 

Snap leant back, placing his hands on Doph’s shoulders to turn him around.

 

“’Like’?” he said, a hint of a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth “’Like’?” he repeated, a tiny sharper edge of disbelief in his voice. “Is that what’s happening here?” he purred as he caged Doph against the counter.

 

Doph wet his lips, looking over Snap’s shoulder, unable to look into his soft dark eyes, but Snap kept staring until Doph was forced to meet his gaze. No, this wasn’t just ‘ _like_ ’.

 

“Aren’t you the one who told me you wanted something hassle-free, simple? That was the term you used, ‘simple’?” he sighed.

 

“This is simple,” Snap told him solemnly. “It’s good and I want more.” Doph was drawn in for a slow, sweet kiss and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Snap’s shoulders, enjoying the contrasting softness of the man’s mouth and scrape of beard against his skin.

 

“I’m going to ask if Ben needs another deputy, if you think you can stand working with me? And I want us to get a dog together.”

 

The corners of Doph’s mouth pulled back in a mock grimace. “I’m more of a cat person,” he snarked. “It’s kind of a deal breaker.”

 

Snap nuzzled Doph’s neck. “Be nice,” he growled.

 

“I’m very nice,” Doph grumbled, wiggling away from all the tickling.

 

Snap’s low chuckle was filthy. “Yes, you are,” he rumbled as he squeezed Doph’s ass.

 

 

 

Ben awoke from a light doze in the front seat of the car. Rey was still asleep, wrapped in a wool blanket in the passenger seat, breathing in and out in soft, buzzing little snores. He looked over at her peaceful face, at her slightly parted lips and the dark eyelashes fanned across her skin, rendered a pale gold in the dawn’s light. She squinted as she shifted in her seat and Ben felt embarrassed to almost have been caught in the act of staring, hastily snapping his gaze away and focusing on the crime scene instead, as if it would somehow spill all its secrets if he could only look at it hard enough.

 

“Oh god! I’m sorry, I dozed off,” Rey said suddenly, sounding panicked. “How long was I asleep?”

 

“About an hour,” he said wearily.

 

“Did you get any sleep?” Her hand reached towards him and skimmed over his cheek to brush a stray curl away from his eye. He was too tired to fight it, and turned to lean his head into her hand.

 

“No,” he admitted quietly, as her warm hand rested against his cheek.

 

It only lasted for a moment because the unwelcome sound of a car’s engine interrupted them, and Rey abruptly jerked her hand back. The approaching patrol car laboured up the driveway and Ben could honestly say he’d never wanted to see Snap Wexley less. The man bounced out of the car, looking chipper and carrying a thermos, a large cup and a takeaway bag from Nickel, which was probably the only thing that could possibly have saved Snap from Ben choking him unconscious for his unintentional cockblocking.

 

“Morning Snap!” Rey squeaked, looking rosy and flustered. “Please tell me that’s our breakfast?”

 

“Two of Finn’s amazing bacon sandwiches and whatever a ‘builder’s brew’ is,” he said cheerily, offering her the bag. As soon as Rey’s attention was distracted by its contents, Snap arched his eyebrow at Ben with a sly expression.

 

Ben accepted his coffee with a pointed “Thank you,” and Snap looked suitably chastised.

 

“Mike Nunb is on his way. Said he should be here in an hour.”

 

“God, is he still alive? Dad and Uncle Lando used to talk about him and the big fire they had here the summer of ‘83.”

 

“I remember that fire,” Snap nodded, in thoughtful reflection for a moment before turning to look back at Ben. “Do you?”

 

”Nope. It was two years before I was born,” Ben said with a smug grin.

 

“You’re such an asshole,” Snap grumbled in a good-natured way.

 

Ben bit into the soft roll crammed with crispy bacon, as Rey rested her cup against her chest, transferring its warmth to her body. Her mascara was smudged and he watched as she took a huge, unladylike bite of her breakfast, thinking she was funny as hell. And sweet, and fearless... god, he was so completely fucked. Gwen was right. He’d asked her to take the deputy job to give himself a reasonable excuse not to date her. Rejection had always scared the shit out of him anyway but, fuck, the idea of her leaving him made his gut twist, and it felt like the tenuous connection he had to this place would dissolve if she did. Gwen, Doph and Poe were all nice people, but he’d always been at the edge of the community - he was accepted for the sake of his well-liked parents, but not for himself. Rey made this place feel like home.

 

“Hey, something wrong with the butty?” Rey asked, her downy eyebrows furrowed. Ben jerked out of his contemplation.

 

“My what?”

 

“The sandwich, its called a bacon butty in England.”

 

It was his turn to frown. “Why call it a ‘butty’? Didn’t the English invent sandwiches?” he asked, peering accusingly at his breakfast.

 

“I have no idea, that just what it’s called,” she told him as she stifled a yawn.

 

Snap was looking at the pair of them before asking. “How long have you two been married?”

 

Ben’s head snapped around. “What?”

 

Snap shrugged and drank some of his coffee. “You sound like an old married couple.”

 

Ben took a last disgruntled bite of his sandwich. “I’m taking a nap until Nunb gets here,” he told Snap irritably as he climbed back into the car.

 

“Snap,” Rey said, “I hope you don’t think I’m rude, but I’m going to rest too, okay?” Snap simply smiled and waved her on.

 

She climbed into the front seat with Ben, who was attempting to wrestle a 6’3 broad shouldered frame into a comfortable sleeping position with a steering wheel in the way.

 

“Maybe the back seat would be more comfortable,” Rey said, then blushed beet red at her unintentional implication. Ben bit his bottom lip because he’d like nothing more than to jump into the back seat with her. He’d given it quite a bit of thought last night.

 

“Oh god!” she stammered. “I didn’t mean...”

 

“It’s okay, I know what you meant...” he looked over at the spacious back seat before making eye contact again. “I’d need more room,” he said earnestly, enjoying her small intake of breath.

 

Neither of them got much sleep, but not because they took advantage of the Durango’s back seat. Nunb had stepped out of his car and declared in a carrying voice, “Why’d you boys drag me all the fucking way out here? Can’t you smell the gasoline! Of course it’s arson!”

 

“You know we had to get the scene signed off by the fire investigator, as well as I do,” Ben told the squatty bulldog of a man with the enormous bags under his eyes. “Our fire fighters are only volunteers!”

 

“I’ll take a look and send you my report,” Nunb said. “Listen, I heard Connix’s girl was found. That’s good. Are she and Poe okay?”

 

“Both are stable, it looks like they’re flying her to Denver for treatment,” Ben sighed.

 

“What the hell’s happening out here Ben?” he asked, dumbfounded.

 

“Honestly, Mike, I don’t know,” Ben said, stretching out his hands by spreading them wide before letting them fall helplessly to his sides again. “Someone’s gone to lot of trouble to do this, but I can’t figure out why.”

 

 

 

After that exchange, Ben left Mike to his investigation and all but thrown Rey over his shoulder to remove her from some overly enthusiastic flirting from the older man. He marveled at the confidence of old guys - they always seemed to be thinking ‘yeah this hot girl in her twenties is putty in my wrinkled hands’.

 

Rey was arguing that she was better rested, so she should drive.

 

“Okay,” he agreed, defeated. He handed over his keys without comment, she was right after all. He was exhausted. She drove them towards town, taking Ben’s ‘different route’, an alternate way to the one they’d used to get to the Meier’s house.

 

“Just take the next left,” he said as they passed hand-painted signs advertising Christmas trees for sale, and at the next left-hand turn they pulled into a car park bearing a large sign stating, in swirling candy striped script, ‘Canady’s Christmas Tree Farm’.

 

“Why d’you want to go to a Christmas tree farm?” she asked.

 

“I have a craving for pineapples,” he snarked.

 

She looked at him for a moment. “You’re getting a Christmas tree? I thought you were Estoria’s version of the Grinch,” she said in astonishment as she parked the car.

 

“We’re getting a Christmas tree and the Grinch didn’t really hate Christmas, he hated people, which is understandable and completely relatable,” he replied in a tone full of false pomposity, as they exited the car.

 

A man with a broad, fleshy nose and red hair flecked with grey strode aggressively towards them out of the plaid-decorated tree lot. “Sheriff Solo, what can I help you with today?” he greeted, in a voice that wasn’t exactly friendly.

 

“Mr Canady, this is Rey Jakku,” Ben said. “She’s replacing Poe Dameron as new deputy sheriff, and she’s after the perfect Christmas tree.” Ben turned to face Rey, and said,“Rey, this is Mark Canady.”

 

Mark Canady’s sullen features lifted a little as he shook Rey’s hand, but his sneer returned whenever he looked at Ben. He explained to Rey that she simply had to go into the forest and look for a tree she liked, then Ben would cut it down. He pointed out which sections of the farm held which sized tree and within minutes, with cart and handsaw in hand, they were soon walking amid the fragrant verdancy of the forest.

 

Ben made sure he gave Rey some space, following behind her so she was free to slip amongst the needled branches of the evergreen conifers, stopping here and there to inspect one, appearing to silently debate the various positives and negatives of each plant.

 

“It’s a big room,” he told her as she headed towards the shorter trees, “we’re going to need a fairly tall one.”

 

“I haven’t been paid yet,” she mumbled.

 

“Good thing you’re not paying for it then. Don’t argue, deputy Jakku, it’s your Christmas gift,” he said firmly. It wasn’t. He had a few ideas, but he’d have to get some advice from Gwen on what the perfect present would be.

 

Ben nudged her in the direction of the seven to eight footers. She disappeared between the trees’ swaying branches and he quickly lost sight of her as he battled to keep up with her light quick steps.

 

“Rey?” he called, pushing through a particularly compact stand of Fraser firs.

 

“I’m here.” There was something about her voice that made his pulse jump - it sounded strange, almost as if she was in pain. Oh fuck! Had she found a body? He now shoved through the branches, dumping the equipment in his haste to find her, calling, “Rey?”

 

“I’m over here,” she called from somewhere to his right, and there she was, just standing in the row. She seemed fine, no corpses, living or undead. Just standing there.

 

“Jesus, Rey! You scared the piss out me...” His annoyance instantly evaporated when he saw that she was blinking back tears.

 

“This one please, Ben,” she said quietly, sounding a little husky. “I’d really like this one.”

 

It was a good choice, perfect color, nicely symmetrical and at least seven foot. He fetched his abandoned tools, squatted down to saw the base of the tree and, after a few minutes and some swearing, the tree gracefully fell right on top of his head. “Ouch! Fuck!” he groaned loudly, from underneath the fragrant branches as Rey squealed his name.

 

“Are you alright?” she cried as, between the two of them, they pushed the tree off him. He was dishevelled but not harmed, and suddenly... Rey was kissing him.

 

She’d surged towards him as he sat on the cold ground, knelt in front of him and pressed her lips gently against his in a sweet, chastise peck. She pulled away slightly as she paused, still close, eyes open and wary. Uncertain. His nerves sizzled to life, like a match being stuck, and he didn’t dare breathe as he looked at her. But she moved forward and tentatively kissed him again.

 

He moaned gently, now lost, seizing her waist as he dragged her onto his lap. His fingers raked through her hair, guiding her lips closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

 

“Solo!” A loud male suddenly bellowed with the aid of a megaphone. “You lost in there?” They jumped apart, and he struggled to keep both his temper and his breath steady as he leapt up. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he roared back that they were on their way, then turned back to face a flushed Rey, at a complete loss for words. So he took her hands in his and leant in to kiss her again.

 

Kissing someone had never felt like this. It had always been something he just did before he got to the good stuff but, now, stroking his lips across Rey’s made his nerves tingle. A glorious warmth was sparking to life in his chest, not to mention the heat building in other parts of his body. But now, in a Christmas tree farm in the middle of the day, he was just obscenely happy to gently caress her cheeks with his thumbs and hold her lovely face between his hands.

 

There was a very good chance that Ben Solo was in love.

 

Wordlessly and slightly embarrassed, they reluctantly pulled apart and got to work, loading the tree onto the cart and dragging it back down the hill. Once back in the lot, Ben handed over his card without complaint, despite the ninety dollar price tag. “I’ll take a wreath too, Mr Canady, the large Fraser, and better include a wreath hanger too.”

 

“You happy with the tree there Sheriff? You sure took a long time to choose it,” Canady drawled, and Ben’s ears grew redder. He was glad Rey was on the other side of the shop looking at ornaments.

 

“Well, Rey wanted the right one. Say, it’s not long till your brother comes up on a parole isn’t it? Tell him I said hi?” he added, keeping his tone light.

 

Mark flushed an unpleasant shade of magenta as Rey returned with her selection of ornaments, a white bauble with silver and green mistletoe hand painted on it, a fluffy squirrel and a delicate blue snowflake or it might’ve been a star.

 

They left with their purchases in hand and secured the tree firmly to the car’s roof. “He’s sweet, isn’t he,” she said as Ben examined the squirrel.

 

“Reminds me of the National Lampoon movie,” he said and Rey wrinkled her forehead, obviously not understanding the reference. “’National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’? Chevy Chase?” he prompted, amazed at her blank look. “Oh god, you’ve never seen ‘Christmas Vacation’! That, and the first two ‘Die Hard’ films were my dad’s favorite Christmas movies!”

 

“’Die Hard’?” she said, confused, as she pointed the car towards home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have a furry squirrel ornament in my Christmas tree in honour of Nature Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.


	21. Chapter 21

 

 

Ben had wrestled the tree into his parents’ old tree stand, Rey had relit the fire, and then the two of them had then collapsed onto the couch.

 

They’d been awake for nearly thirty hours straight, on top of a busy week, and Ben was so tired it had taken a few moments to realise that the sound he was hearing was actually his cell phone ringing. “Hello,” he croaked, and Rey lifted her head off his shoulder, bleary-eyed and struggling to focus.

 

“Ben? It’s Doph, I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

 

“Yeah. No. What’s happened?” he asked groggily.

 

“Nothing. I just want to check in - Jess and Snap have the office covered. Why not take the day off? You’ve been at it two weeks straight,” Doph’s disembodied voice urged. He didn’t work the weekends in general because the State Police handled most of the policing in the area, and was just on call in case something urgent happened close by.

 

“I’ll do that,” Ben said gratefully. “Have a good weekend, Doph.” A few moments later Rey’s phone rang and he heard her having a similar conversation. The moment her thumb brushed the red ‘end call’ symbol, he dragged her back towards him and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, wrapping it over them both before pressing a few kisses to her forehead.

 

“Get some rest, sweetheart. We’ll trim the tree after taking a nap.”

 

“’Decorate’,” she chided as she shifted into a more comfortable position, curled against his side with her head cradled against his shoulder. “Trim means to cut.”

 

“Forgive me, I’m an ignorant American,” he mumbled into her hair, and she chuckled sleepily.

 

They stayed like that until Rey woke in mid-afternoon needing the bathroom, badly. Ben was deeply asleep and, boy, was he a snuggler - he’d wedged her between the chair’s backrest and his huge body, and extracting herself was like fighting to get out from underneath a large mattress. She wiggled out from beneath his heavy arm and threw her leg over his hip in an attempt to climb over the top of him.

 

“You should be aware, somnophilia is considered a crime under Colorado’s sexual assault laws,” Ben drawled without opening his eyes. “I can’t give consent if I’m unconscious.”

 

He shifted so that she was now astride his hips. “You look very pretty up there,” he said smugly as he skimmed his hands up her legs, stopping just before he reached the apex of her thighs.

 

“Hold that thought. I need the loo,” she said, stretching her arms out to encircle his shoulders and kiss him again, soft nibbling kisses that had him reluctant to let her go. After she’d dismounted him and slipped off to the bathroom, he sighed and pulled himself up to a sitting position, stretching and ruffling his hair. God, barely two weeks had passed since she’d been yelling at him in the middle of the street - he supposed this was what they called a ‘whirlwind romance’.

 

He looked down at his rumpled uniform that smelled strongly of smoke. “Rey, how about we shower and change first, then do the tree?”

 

“Sheriff? Are you suggesting that we shower together?” she teased.

 

Ben’s mouth was suddenly as dry as Baptist church potluck. “Well, You know only to like conserve water,” he stammered. Smooth Ben, _real_ smooth, he thought scathingly. She appeared in the doorway, all big eyes and pink cheeks. “A bit too soon?” he asked.

 

“Maybe a smidge.”

 

“I’ll just use dad and mom’s bathroom then.”

 

“No,” she said, taking his hand. “Why don’t I take a bath and you shower? There’ll be a wall between us...”

 

Ben swallowed, feeling the thickness building in his throat. “Yeah,” he croaked, mortified by how strangled he sounded.

 

Rey disappeared back down the hall to her room and Ben staggered to his, grabbing underwear, a flannel shirt and jeans before entering his bathroom. He could hear water running to fill the bath. “Rey?”

 

“I’m here!” she said. Ben noted the apprehension in her voice.

 

“Nothing has to happen, Rey. We can just get cleaned up then trim the tree.”

 

“Decorate,” came a small voice.

 

“Decorate the tree,” he amended.

 

Over the sound of the faucet, he heard a lot of shuffling followed by a sound that might have been Rey’s uniform falling to the floor. He shakily began to strip off his clothes until he was down to his briefs. “Ben?”

 

“Yes,” he answered, his heartbeat fluttering against his ribs like a trapped bird.

 

“Do you have anything I could put in the bath water? I’ve just run out of body wash.”

 

“I’ll look,” he said, eager for the distraction as he opened several drawers, finding a plastic container labelled ‘milk bath’ that he must have bought ages ago.

 

He went to the edge of the wall and stretched his arm round to offer it to her.

 

“Thank you,” came her voice.

 

“You’re welcome,” he said as he retracted his arm, hoping she would take his hand and lead him around the corner but, for whatever reason, she did not.

 

He breathed a deep silent breath through his nose as he heard the sound of small splashes – she was obviously stepping into the bath, and he stifled a little moan as he imagined her body, naked as the day she was born, sinking into hot fragrant water. This was pure torture.

 

Tearing himself away and desperate to calm down, he switched the level on the shower to ‘cold’ and started the water running as he dropped his briefs. He stepped underneath the spray. He clenched his jaw to stop the string of curses as he jumped out again. Shivering he thought at least it worked, with that amount of shrinkage there was no way he was tempted to step around the divider.

 

Adjusting the dial again, he waited til the water was warm enough and stepped in again, now able to enjoy the feeling of the warm water saturating his thick hair. He washed his hair free of the acrid smell of smoke and was about to wash his body clean when he heard, “Ben?”

 

There was a note fear in her voice, and he almost dropped the wash cloth.

 

“How thick is this glass?” she called.

 

“Pretty thick,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

 

“There’s a mountain lion outside,” she said, sounding like she was struggling to remain calm.

 

“It’s okay, it can’t get in,” he said firmly. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

 

“Come see! There’s two of them.”

 

“Are you sure?” he asked. Maybe he was hallucinating.

 

“You should see this,” Rey said, a bit firmer this time. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped around the wall, Ben found her facing the window, her breasts pressed against the edge of the bath as the graceful sweep of her back disappeared into the opaque water. He could just make out the cleft of her bottom, teasing him.

 

She turned her head to look at him and he was embarrassed to have been caught staring. “Sorry,” he mumbled, but he’d never been less sorry in his entire life.

 

He tore his gaze away from her and looked out the window. The cougars were play-fighting in the snow, pouncing and rolling, sending the fresh powder up in plumes as they raced around, oblivious to their audience.

 

“Ben?”

 

His eyes flicked back to met hers, and he was surprized to see that she was now fully facing him, holding her hand out to him in a silent invitation. After a moment of disbelief, he wordlessly took it and his eyes raked hungrily over her naked torso as she led him to the edge of the bath. She turned her face away when he let the towel drop but, judging by her furious blush, she’d definitely had a quick peek more then the hot bath water was responsible for the redness of her cheeks.

 

With her gaze averted, he sank chest-deep into the water, grateful he’d chosen the biggest tub he could afford, and arranged his legs to rest on either side of her. “Come here,” he coaxed gently, until her back was hugged against his chest. His hardening cock was touching her lower back and Ben couldn’t hold back the moan as she shifted, her soft skin caressing the sensitive underside of his dick. She did it again, and it sent a frisson of pleasure through him, pooling hot and heavy in his groin. “Not fair...” he groaned, skimming his hands up her wet body to cup her jaw, gently manoeuvring her face towards him and peppering her forehead and cheeks with kisses. His lips found hers, kissing her more deeply as he dragged his thumb continuously over her nipple.

 

Rey arched against him, making delicious little sighs of pleasure as she panted into his mouth and he realizing that if she kept rubbing her ass against the base of his cock like that, he’d lose himself way too early.

 

He trailed one hand down her belly, gently circling her navel with his fingers before dipping into her neatly-trimmed curls and she automatically responded, flexing and opening her legs wider. Ben sighed into her hair, tracing her folds with light, teasing stokes, and her hips started to buck slightly, rocking against him as he gave the pressure her hips were chasing.

 

He ground against her, desperate for both control and release, and the bathwater now churned in small waves with their every movement, the lapping and splashing merging with the sounds of their kissing, stroking and stuttering breaths.

 

Rey’s swaying hip movements grew more forceful, and she started to moan gently as his fingers worked faster. He watched her eyes scrunch up and lips open wider to gasp through her pleasure as it peaked, crying his name as her thighs clenched around his hand, attempting to hold on to her orgasm and arching, convulsing, against him. God, she was fucking incredible. He was still grinding into her as she rolled over to face him, kissing him between ragged breaths.

 

His eyes followed her hand as she dragged it down his chest until it slipped under the water, and his whole body shuddered as she clasped his desperate cock. She pumped up and down, kissing and nuzzling his neck, and he groaned in a deep rumble as his head leant back against the tub in surrender. He was beginning to lose control as his hips thrust up into her hand, needing a faster rhythm but, unable to speak, he just wrapped his hand around hers to show her the way he liked it. She nodded, straddling his thigh to get a better grip and pumping him relentlessly under his guidance. Face-to-face like this, her eyes were fierce as they looked into his, demanding his orgasm and he groaned, moving his hips faster. His entire body bent like bow as waves of pleasure crested and slammed through his body again and again as he came, gasping against her.

 

Collapsing into her embrace, his breath slowly stuttered back to its regular rhythm as he returned to himself, dimly aware that Rey was thanking him. That took a moment to process...

 

She was thanking him? Rey had given him a hand job that had almost stopped his heart, and she thanked him? He cupped her jaw and kissed her deeply.

 

“Rey...why are you thanking me?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

 

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Because,” she whispered, bashful now, “watching you... was...” She inhaled shakily, and he understood.

 

He pressed his mouth to her temple. “I know, sweetheart,” he sighed.

 

While Ben washed her hair, he tried and failed to convince Rey that the tree could wait and they could just spend the afternoon in his bed, but Rey couldn’t be swayed. Not that he argued his point all that vehemently - he’d realised at the Christmas market that this meant a lot to her and he was going to do everything he could to give her a proper Christmas. Or maybe his uncharacteristically seasonal mood was just due his endorphin-flooded brain or his lower parts doing the thinking, especially now he felt himself stirring again as they towel-dried each other’s dripping bodies and dressed.

 

“I can’t get over _you_ wearing an actual colour!” she teased as she watched him button up his shirt. In truth, the plaid was mostly black. “Green’s my favourite colour,” she admitted.

 

“I like blue,” he confessed. She wrapped her body in a cream tunic that tied at the side, resembling a martial arts uniform, and it reminded him of something he’d been meaning to ask for a while. “That take-down you used on me the other week - where did you learn that?” he asked, as they made their way back into the living room.

 

She looked up at him, seemingly embarrassed at the reminder of their rocky start.

 

“How much do you know about how I grew up?”

 

“Just what’s written in your file,” he admitted.

 

“After Plutt...” she began hesitantly, as she sat down. “After Plutt, I was sent to a family who ran a mixed martial arts club. Bits of Judo, Karate, Taekwon-do and Muay Thai. They taught me to fight properly - before that, I fought like a raccoon protecting a dumpster,” she said with forced cheeriness, and he noticed once again how she used her bright demeanour to mask her sadness.

 

“And Christmas there?”

 

“Nope, they were Jewish,” she said with a grin. “I lived with them for eight months, then I was moved to another family. I was moved around a lot. I finally ended in a group home in my last year of high school, which was where I met Finn.” She picked up one of the new Christmas decorations and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, before turning back to him. “Ben, there’s something you should know,” she said hesitantly, clearing her throat. “I think I was the one who gave you that scar.”

 

Ben squeezed his eyes closed, shutting out the sudden stab of surprise and hoping that, like a human kaleidoscope, the scenario would make sense when he opened them again. “What?” he blurted out.

 

She looked like she wanted to bolt from the building. “Did you get that scar when you were looking for a woman in an alley in West Las Vegas? You cornered her... _me_ , next to a dumpster.” She held up her hand tentatively as though she was certain he’d knock it away. “Snoke wanted me back, so he put out a BOLO on me.” She could hardly bring herself to look up at him, and sat motionless as she awaited his rejection. Ben simply took her hand and laid it over his scar, and she looked up into his eyes earnestly. “I’m so sorry,” she said thickly, trailing her thumb down his cheek.

 

Ben couldn’t find it in himself to be angry with her. He’d chased her for two blocks, and could understand that she must have been terrified. Fight or flight, and Rey always chose fight. “It’s okay,” he said softly.

 

“It’s not! Look what I did to you,” she whispered, looking down at the decoration again, away from his sympathetic gaze.

 

“I forgive you.”

 

“Really?” she asked hopefully, as he gently brushed away her tears with his thumb.

 

“You’re a fighter Rey,” he said. “How can I blame you for what happened, when I put you in that situation?” He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose and finally her mouth. “Oh, and you shouldn’t feel obliged to make it up to me with copious amounts of sexual favours,” he said cheekily as he skimmed his mouth down the column of her neck. She smacked the back of his head in retaliation.

 

With the weighty conversation over, Ben announced that he was going to get the decorations down from the loft, which was located in the hall in front of his parents’ room. He pulled the chain of the hatch and dropped the ladder down before climbing up into the dusty storage space, slouching in an uncomfortable stoop to avoid bumping his head as he navigated the stacks of plastic boxes of various ages and sizes, all bearing a description of the contents, some written in Leila’s neat spiky handwriting but most in his dad’s chicken scratch.

 

One box was labelled as containing Ben’s calligraphy things, only Han had spelled it with only one ‘l’. Ben lifted the lid to find all his pens, ink, papers and brushes carefully placed in little containers, neatly filed away and safe from dust and vermin. Han Solo may have felt that his son was a mystery to him, but he’d clearly recognised that the contents of this box were important to Ben, and had kept it safe.

 

Ben rubbed his hand over his sternum after carefully replacing the lid. Reminding himself that he was here for the Christmas decorations, he resumed his search and, after shifting a box bearing the description ‘tax bullshit 90’ to 95’, he found several large red boxes marked ‘Xmas’.

 

“Ben?” Rey called. “Are you alright up there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Coming down.” He sounded a bit husky, so he cleared his throat. Rey’s head popped into view.

 

“Hey, you okay?”

 

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Just dusty up here.”

 

“Give me a box,” she said, holding out both hands. She was glowing, ridiculously beautiful and excited to be decorating a simple Christmas tree, and he sincerely hoped that whatever rock Simon Plutt was living under, the jerkoff was in a lot of pain.

 

He passed Rey the lightest box and she disappeared back down the steps. Holding another two, he backed out, returning to collect a third box that stated ‘Xmas outdoor lights’.

 

Having put all the boxes in front of the tree, and Rey opened the first one as if she was an archaeologist unearthing a priceless treasure.

 

“Lights first, then tinsel, larger baubles at the bottom, smaller ones at the top and then the Star,” he said firmly.

 

“There’s an order?”

 

“There needs to be order, or chaos reigns,” he said in the same professorial tone. Rey rolled her eyes.

 

“So here my plan: _decorate_ the tree, then the first ‘Die Hard’. It’s not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off the Nakatomi Tower,” he said.

 

“No deal.”

 

“And I’ll make you an omelette,” he wheeled.

 

“Now you’re talking!” She grinned and slapped his butt.

 

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

 

The gift was a beautifully wrapped confection of pink and gold. It almost seemed a shame to untie the perfect bow on top, Tallie thought, when she discovered it sitting on her desk. Armitage must have decided to give her an early Christmas present, leaving it for her when she’d locked up the rear door of the office.

 

He tried too hard sometimes, treating her like spun sugar. He was making such an effort to ensure her happiness, as well as Erin and Maeve’s, that it was difficult to get angry with him, even though he could be enormously frustrating sometimes. If his compulsion to perfect absolutely everything went unchallenged, he could be downright terrifying, but Tallie liked to think she provided balance to his nature.

 

Smiling, she undid the knot and peeled back the wrapping paper, then opened the box inside. A perfectly average letter was inside with the bold black typeface stating:

 

‘Do you want to know who their daddy is?’

 

With labored breaths and numb fingers, she picked up the envelope to reveal a pistol with a black grip underneath.

 

 

Rey wasn’t completely sure she was ready to be seduced right underneath the Christmas tree but, with Ben’s sinful mouth teasing her nipple through her lacy bra, all ability to argue flew out of her brain. From his seated position beneath her, he brushed both the straps from her shoulders with an air of worship.

 

“I can’t make up my mind,” he sighed. This statement managed to penetrate Rey’s lustful haze.

 

“Huh?” she asked dreamily.

 

“I cannot decide which is my favourite part of your body. I mean, your tits are spectacular but your legs..!” Ben stroked his hands up and down her thighs while skimming his lips over her neck. “Your neck!” His breath feathered over the delicate skin of her throat.

 

His hands stole up the length of her back to undo the fasting of her bra. “There’s an argument to be made for your back, but then there’s...” His hands clasped firmly over her arse, and mouth stretched into a wicked smirk.

 

“This really is a phenomenal ass,” he told her emphatically, while massaging her backside with his huge hands.

 

“You have a phenomenal arse too,” she responded, waiting until he gave a hint of a bashful smile until she told him, “shame it’s on top of your neck!”

 

“Oh, that, Deputy Jakku, is going to get you on the naughty list.” He punctuated his statement with a sharp smack on her arse which he immediately soothed with slow circles, and she silently acknowledged that she probably shouldn’t have enjoyed that quite so much, being a feminist. But damn, he had some big hands and he knew exactly how to use them.

 

“Bold words from a man who’s ravishing me under a Christmas tree.”

 

He flipped them both over and kissed a path down her body, peeling off her knickers and jeans. He arranged her legs over his shoulders, resting his chin on her mound expectantly but Rey wasn’t sure what he was waiting for.

 

“Well?” he asked, his voice husky and teasing. Rey pursed her lips still unsure what he expected her to do.

 

“Is there anything you like about me?” he asked. Though his tone was playful, she could see a hint of vulnerability in his bittersweet chocolate eyes.

 

She propped herself up on her elbows. God, what did she find unattractive about him? She feigned difficulty considering her options. “Your hair...” she said, and began sweeping a stray curl behind his ear. “Definitely your ears.” He huffed derisively and scraped his stubble against her thigh in a way that wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

 

“Your shoulders and chestttt nnghh...” she sighed as he trailed his lips so they barely touched her pussy.

 

“Hmmmm?” he prompted, raising his head, “what was that again?”

 

“Your chest,” she groaned. “Your tiddies...I mean... pecs!” she hastily corrected, suddenly remembering the more correct term. She covered her face with her hands in mock shame.

 

“’Tiddies’?” he choked, and she peeked at him from between her fingers to see that his smile was a mile wide. Most of the time he kept a straight face - if he smiled it was usually more of a smirk, but when Ben Solo did actually smile properly, it was truly magical. His eyes crinkled, the elusive dimple in his right cheek appeared and all the heavy pensiveness in his face was swept away.

 

Right now, Ben looked joyful. Talk about a Christmas miracle.

 

He rubbed his cheek against her inner thigh. “So you only like me for my... tiddies?” he snarked, pressing a kiss to the hyper-sensitive skin bordering her curls.

 

“No,” Rey said breathlessly. “Well, there is your mouth.”

 

Ben hummed as he trailed his nose over her mound, and Rey’s legs fell open wider as he licked a meandering trail through her folds, tracing mysterious patterns over her clit.

 

Rey’s hips jerked up, but he laid a hand to the flat of her abdomen to keep her still, and started started to drive her to the edge of the cliff, with breath and teeth and tongue.

 

And then the fucking phone started ringing.

 

“Someone better be dead,” Rey growled, then winced. What if someone really was dead? Ben pushed up to his knees and answered the phone.

 

“Solo.” He grunted, his annoyance seeping to a fierce scowl. “Slow down, Doph... What did you say? ... Are you positive it’s Tallie? .......... No no ... Get Snap and Jess to secure the area, we’re on our way right now.”

 

The tone in Ben’s voice had prompted Rey to get up, realizing she’d better retrieve her discarded underwear and jeans, and she was now bouncing to wriggle in the denim, struggling to button them up. Damn Ben Solo’s cooking, she thought, as he ended the call.

 

“Did I just hear you say ‘we’re’?” she questioned as Ben reefed his jeans up. He didn’t seem to fully appreciate the point she was trying to make.

 

“Yeah,” he said as his head popped out from the neck opening of his undershirt. He paused, then his mouth dropped open to a prefect ‘O’.

 

“You’re an utter numpty, Benjamin Solo,” she admonished. “Why didn’t you just tell him we’re sleeping together!”

 

“A numpty isn’t a good thing, is it?” he asked tentatively.

 

“No, it is not,” she fumed, throwing his plaid shirt after Ben as he hurriedly rushed over to the garage to open his gun safe.

 

“You can yell at me all you want, after we make sure Tallie doesn’t shoot Arm.”

 

“What?” Rey gasped, horrified. “Why?” she asked.

 

“I don’t know, but she’s holding him at gunpoint in his office.”

 

Rey stepped into her boots and fastened the buckles as Ben secured his gun belt around his waist, silently handing her Poe’s 9mm and holstering his own. He pulled a sweater out of the laundry hamper as Rey threw her coat on then grabbed the rifle out of the safe, his eyes finding Rey’s, seeking reassurance. He couldn’t imagine how he’d bring himself to shoot Tallie if it came to it. He’d taken her statement all those months ago, after her rape... then a horrible thought seeped through his mind, like a glass of red wine split on a white tablecloth.

 

What if Armitage Hux was the one who had raped Tallie?

 

“Ben, what is it? You’re as white as a sheet.”

 

Ben appeared to be having trouble forcing words through his numb lips. “Tallie was raped, and I never found who did it...whoever it was is the twins’ father. What if it was Hux?”

 

Rey felt sick to the stomach, recalling how Hux had so clearly doted on the little girls at the Christmas market, how Tallie had looked at him so lovingly. It was a sick idea... monstrous.

 

“Rey? I know, I’m thinking it too,” he grimaced. “But we’ve to go do our jobs, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Rey said, taking the rifle from him as he grabbed his car keys off the hook by the door.

 

It was a tense and mostly silent drive into town, and Ben drove with the lights and sirens blasting. The lights painted the snow with a bloody red and deathly cold blue, incongruously contrasting with the warm yellow halo of festive lights surrounding the homes dotting the highway. He turned off the siren as they reached the border of town, and spotted another patrol car parked across the road, blocking off traffic. Snap strode towards them, while Jess and Doph were busy directing traffic away from the mayor’s office. Ben used his car to block the street from the other side.

 

“Snap! What the hell is going on?” Ben asked as he opened the car door.

 

“She’s asking for you, Ben. I think you need to go in there – she wants you to arrest Arm.”

 

Ben nodded. “Keep the street blocked off,” he directed. “Go to the back of the building just in case either of them go out the back. Rey, go direct traffic at the far end.” He made it halfway to the door before Rey caught up with him.

 

“No!” She held up her hand to his chest to hold him back. “I’m not letting you go in there alone,” she told him fiercely.

 

“Deputy,” he growled. “Do as I ask.” Rey narrowed her eyes at him and dashed inside before he had a chance to grab her.

 

She stole up the hallway, gun drawn. She could hear muffled voices, a woman sobbing, screaming. A man begging, but she couldn’t make out what either of them were saying, and then Ben was right behind her. He seized her upper arm and pressed her against the wall.

 

“I asked you to stay outside,” he hissed, crowding her against the brick wall. He was terrified, she could see in his eyes, and she raised her hand to touch the side of his face.

 

“I’m not leaving you,” she said firmly.

 

The female suddenly screeched, “How could... how could you! You’re going to tell Ben everything or I’m going fucking shoot in the head, you son of bitch!”

 

“I didn’t! I didn’t. Please Tallie, I could never...”

 

Tallie screamed at him, a primal noise that chilled Rey’s blood. Raw, like her soul was being ripped apart.

 

“Tallie?” Ben called loudly from the empty hall. “Tallie, it’s Ben, can I come in? Rey is with me.”

 

“Ben?” she said in a hoarse whisper. They heard the distinct ‘snick’ and the door opened a crack, and Ben pushed it open with one hand. Rey stood rigid, weapon at the ready.

 

Tallie was standing a few feet from Ben, gripping a gun in both hands, shaking violently. Black tears streaked her cheeks like war paint. “He should confess, Ben,” she sobbed. “He won’t do it!”

 

Arm was on his hands and knees, backed into a corner. He raised his hands in surrender. “Tallie please...”

 

“No, shut up!” she shrieked. “Just shut up!” Her breath was ragged, but she lowered the gun a few inches. “How could you? How could you do that? You lived with me ...how could you lie to me like that? What the fuck is wrong with you?” she raged at him with her teeth bared, her pretty face contorted into a murderous expression. She looked more than capable of tearing Hux limb-from-limb.

 

“I love you! Please, Tallie...” he whispered, but Tallie’s unintelligible howl of outrage cut him off. She swung the gun back up, he immediately sank back to the floor.

 

“You don’t get to say that to me,” she railed, “YOU DON’T GET TO SAY THAT!”

 

“Tallie please... Please give me the gun,” Ben said tensely. Tallie pointed the gun at Ben then back at Hux cowering on the floor. Rey stepped into the room and stood by Ben, and Tallie shied away from them both.

 

“He has to say it, Ben. He should say it!” she wailed as tears fell down her cheeks. “Then you can take him to jail. He has to confess.” she said, gesturing towards Hux with the firearm. Rey’s attention honed in on the gun - a sig-sauer with a black grip, and instantly recognised it as her own - the one that was stolen a week before.

 

Ben was speaking again. “Tallie, it wouldn’t help. It’s a coerced confession, inadmissible in court. Please just talk to me, okay? Please Tallie,” he begged.

 

“It’s there, the DNA test. It proves he’s the girls’ father! The letter on the floor, that’s the evidence.”

 

Ben warily crouched down to pick up the paper, scanning it as he stood again. “Tallie, I’m going to arrest him, okay? But you’ve got to give me the gun,” he said firmly.

 

“Tallie, I didn’t do this. Please!” Armitage implored.

 

Tallie rounded on him. “One more word, and I swear to god...” she shrieked, sounding completely unhinged.

 

“I love you! Please, just listen....” Hux begged.

 

Rey had stealthily been edging her way further into the room, ensuring that she drew closer to Tallie, and now made a decisive move. Holstering her weapon, she purposefully stepped in front of Ben, feeling his fingers scratch the back of her coat as she stepped closer to Tallie, hearing him gasp, “Rey don’t!” behind her. There was no mistaking the fear in his voice.

 

Facing Tallie, she held out her hand for the gun. “Tallie, you’re the good kind of mother aren’t you? I bet you took all the vitamins, and do all the right things for your daughters? Please, just give me the gun. If you pull that trigger, you won’t see them for a very long time. I can’t imagine how much this hurts, but please don’t do this to them.” Tallie hesitated before slowing passing the gun to Rey.

 

Ben swiftly stepped around the women to handcuff Hux and inform him of his Miranda rights, while Tallie collapsed into Rey’s arms, dark head bent to fair as Tallie sobbed. Ben’s dark eyes bore into Rey’s as he led Hux from the room. He looked livid.

 

The women waited inside until Hux was taken away in the patrol car, then Rey led Tallie out to the ambulance. Rey recognised the EMT with the strong jaw from the night before, Ben had told her their name, but Rey struggled to recall it as they guided Tallie up inside the ambulance, as they wrapped her in a blanket. “Hey honey,” the EMT said as she unfurled a pressure cuff, “I’m going to monitor your blood pressure.” Tallie just nodded, her eyes glassy and detached. Rey suspected she was going into shock, and the ambulance officer seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

 

She placed the cuff carefully around Tallie’s arm, and popped the stethoscope in her ears. As Rey took a few steps back to give Tallie some privacy, a gloved hand touched her upper back and her head jerked round towards the culprit. “Doph?”

 

Doph looked paler than usual, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Hey, you okay?” he asked.

 

“Yes... No,” she admitted, shaking her head. She turned away from him, struggling to keep control of her emotions.

 

“Come on, I’m taking you back to the office,” he said, but Rey gently cast off his light hold.

 

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m staying with Tallie.” She tried to subtly brush her cheeks.

 

“Ben wants you at the office. Snap, Jess and I will take care of Tallie. Come on, it’s not far,” he insisted gently.

 

Together, they walked the short distance to the next street. It was snowing again, and Rey looked up at the white flurries swirling through the air, thinking it looked so peaceful, a perfect hallmark Christmas movie moment. As long as you don’t look at the scene behind.

 

Minutes later, they reached the sheriff’s office and, as they entered, Dolph said, “I’m going back. I’ll see you later.”

 

Ben came out of the interview room, fixing her with his black eyes and stalking resolutely towards her, and she flinched apprehensively – she really was going to be reprimanded this time. But, instead, Ben’s arm wrapped around her. “I’m alright,” she assured, raising her hands to his shoulders.

 

“I need this, okay?” he sighed, “I need a fucking hug, Rey.” His voice sounded rough and muffled. Ben lifted her off her feet, holding her to his chest like a child desperate for comfort. “Fucking hell, Rey. You’re going to kill me!” he growled against her ear. He tightened his grip on her, to the point it almost hurt, and they stood, wrapped in an unyielding embrace until he loosened the hold slightly. He pulled his head back and stared at her for a moment before hesitantly kissing her, a barely-there brush of skin which quickly built to frantic, needy reassurance as their lips collided again and again. She eventually stopped him, brushing both their tears from his face, his lips red and wet. “Not here, not here,” she whispered.

 

Ben dropped her gently to her feet and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

 

He cleared his throat before saying, “Hux wants to make a statement. I’d better go and sort that out.”

 

In the interview room, Hux cut a pathetic figure - his hands were cuffed to the metal table and he slumped in his chair, ashen faced. As Rey and Ben entered the room, he immediately sat up in his seat. “Ben, please! I didn’t do this. I could never hurt her! Is she alright? Where are the girls? Please tell me they’re okay?” he pleaded.

 

“Armitage Hux, I’m obliged to caution you that you are being recorded for the purpose of an interview in connection with a sexual assault. Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?” Ben cautioned, his voice deep and devoid of even a meagre trace of kindness. He continued, “For the benefit of the recording, I am Sheriff Benjamin Solo. Also present is Deputy Rey Jakku of the Estoria sheriff’s department.

 

“Armitage Hux, where were you on the night of October 31st 2016?”

 

“I was handing out candy until around eight,” Hux began meekly, “and then I went to Maz’s for some drinks. I got lift home with a guy, I don’t remember his name - might’ve worked for the one of the big ski resort over in Telluride. I’m not sure, I’d had a bit to drink. I went to bed alone. I’ll take a polygraph, I’ll submit my DNA for analysis, whatever it takes,” he said in a rush, “but I need to use my phone call.”

 

“I still need to take your statement,” Ben growled, sounding like a threatening animal.

 

“My statement is I did not sexually assault Tallisen Linstra and I am not the biological father of her children Erin and Maeve. And I want my phone call, I need to tell my mother what’s happening before it’s too late.”

 

“Mariette?” Ben said, sounding baffled. Hux looked downright offended.

 

“That cow is not my mother!” he snapped. “My mother’s name is Mara-Jade Kelly, she’s an Irish human rights advocate, and if you don’t let me call her she’s going to confront him without me. Please Ben!” he pleaded. “She done too much of this on her own, I want to be there to support her and I want Brendol to know that we can prove what he’s done.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ben barked at the desperate man.

 

“I could never rape anyone,” he said, lowering his head to his hands and raking his fingers through his hair. “My mother, my birth mother, Mara-Jade tracked me down about a year ago. She got in contact with me, telling me that Brendol, my father,” he spat the word like it was dirt in his mouth, “had employed her as maid, repeatedly raped her and kept her captive until I was born, then he stole me from her. He got my mother put in jail on a false charge and fled the country, and I grew up thinking that bitch, Marietta was my mother. When Mara-Jade got in touch, I had a DNA test done and, it’s true, I am her son.” His blue grey eyes were imploring, and Rey looked at him sceptically. He was either the best liar in the world, or he really was telling the truth. Rey looked across at Ben, but his focus was channelled solely on Hux, his back and shoulders hunched tight with tension.

 

“Brendol’s been living in Dubrovnik for a while now. Croatia doesn’t have an extradition agreement with the USA. I’ve been trying to get him to the US so he can be extradited back to Britain. He’s coming to try to talk me out of sullying the family name by marrying an unwed mother! The fucking hypocrite,” he snarled in disgust.

 

“The time is 20:23 pm, I am suspending interview until Armitage Hux can make his phone call,” Ben said.

 

“My name is Domhnall, my mother named me Domhnall,” he said in a raw voice. “I’ll be changing my name soon, might as well get used to it.”

 


	23. Chapter 23

 

Ben was in his office, busily tapping at his computer keypad.

 

On a hunch, he’d googled the name of the company who’d preformed the paternity test, Denver Paternity Analysis, but found no listing. It might have just been a typo, but the phone number on the letterhead actually belonged to a mortuary in Colorado Springs. Someone must have a twisted sense of humour - it was a literal dead end.

 

It may have been a mistake, but he seriously doubted that someone would make such an error on the letterhead of their business.

 

The company was a fake and this was a cruel hoax.

 

They’d still have to compare Armitage... Domhnall’s DNA with the twins’ to completely rule him out, but Ben’s gut was telling him that the mayor was telling the truth.

 

Ben had found Mara-Jade Kelly online too, she was Ireland’s foremost human rights campaigner. She’d initially worked tirelessly to reform the methods employed by the UK police in their investigations into sexual assault cases, before taking on child welfare reform and domestic violence. He clicked on the article about her acclaimed address to the UN Human Rights Council, and peered curiously at the woman’s image as it flashed onto the screen - Arm...Domhnall had certainly inherited her hair colour and high cheekbones and, when he clicked on a short recording of her speech, it became clear that she’d also conferred her gift for public speaking to him.

 

As the clip ended, Rey entered the office with a pot of tea, a bottle of milk and two mugs. “Maybe we should offer Arm... Domhnall one?” Ben said absently, his eyes still on the photo of Mara-Jade.

 

“I did,” said Rey as she lowered herself into the spare chair. “I didn’t want you to accuse me of pulling dick move,” Rey said, pouring steaming tea into the mugs.

 

“I’m ninety percent sure he’s being honest,” Ben mused. “There’s no listing for Denver Paternity Analysts and he bears more than a passing resemblance to this Mara-Jade Kelly.” He tilted the screen gently so that Rey could see it and they both regarded the image of the strikingly beautiful woman in her 50’s, who’d been photographed looking confidently at the camera, shoulder length red-gold hair framing her well-preserved face and green eyes sparkling challengingly beneath black glasses.

 

Ben lifted both eyebrows and let out a quiet whistle through his teeth. “Remind me to tease him about his hot mom when this is over,” he cooed, and Rey responded by plonking his tea in front of him, making it slosh around the mug and spill a bit. “What?” he asked. “You’re not the jealous type are you, sweetheart?”

 

“Oh, please!” she said, sounding exasperated with him, but something told him he was on the right track.

 

He drank his tea whilst watching her over the brim of his cup, wondering how far down the flush in her cheeks had spread. Her skin still held a trace of summer colour, and he leaned back in his chair as he recalled the image of the faint cheeky tan line on her bottom. He was going to make sure he kissed his way around that line when they got home.

 

“Penny for your thought, Sheriff,” she asked.

 

“They’re all yours for free,” he said. “I was thinking about eating your pussy out.” He was very gratified by her sudden choke as she coughed her tea up.

 

“I was asking about Hux!” she spluttered.

 

“Well, that’s far less interesting,” Ben grumbled. “He’s refusing to press charges against Tallie and this is looking like a hoax. That was your gun wasn’t it? We’re chasing our tails here.” In a slightly dizzying change of topic, he asked, “Do you think you could convince Rose to drop over something to eat? It’s been a while since that bacon sandwich.”

 

The double entendre went over Rey’s head as she squinted at the clock. “Bit late for them. Does Maz do take away?”

 

“No, but there’s a pizza place near the town square that’s open this late,” Ben offered.

 

“That sounds fine. I’ll just ask if Arm is hungry.”

 

“Domhnall,” Ben corrected.

 

“He’s right - that is going to take some getting used to,” Rey said ruefully from the doorway.

 

The first of two holding cells were small, spartan rooms containing a metal toilet and ledge that served as a bed. The cells’ primary use was for housing drunk drivers as they sobered up and waited for relatives to collect them, so not much importance had been placed on comfort. Domhnall was to be transferred to Telluride for processing later, as Estoria simply didn’t have a big enough station to hold anyone for more than a few hours.

 

The mayor’s long, lean frame was stretched out on the bed and, as Rey entered, he lifted his head off the rolled-up sweater he was using as a pillow.

 

“Hey, are you hungry? We’re going to order pizza,” she said.

 

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Rey, are Tallie and my daughters okay?” he asked as he stepped close to the plastic divider.

 

She paused. “Everyone is being taken care of,” she said. She wanted to reassure him more, but he was still a suspect in an active investigation. “Do you have a pizza preference?”

 

“I probably should eat,” he sighed as he rubbed his hand over his neck. “Margarita please.” He turned to face her with his hands on his hips, and she was almost at the door when he said, “Rey? ... Do you have any idea who could be doing this to us?”

 

“No, Domhnall, but we’re going to find out.”

 

And she was determined to do just that. Her gun was proof that both the hoax and her own assault were linked, but who’d have a grudge against her? She hadn’t been in town long enough to attract any negative attention.

 

Ben was now lurking in the doorway with phone in hand. “Domhnall prefers margarita pizza,” she told him, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around his waist and snuggle into him. He dialled the number and placed the order. “Thin and crispy or thick?” he asked.

 

“Thick,” she said, incredulous that he’d even consider choosing thin crust pizza. He covered the mouth piece.

 

“Finally something about you that isn’t perfect,” he snarked, then spoke back into the receiver. “Thin crust please. Can I get it delivered? .... oh okay then, I’ll come get it. Fifteen minutes got it, thank you.”

 

“Thin crust and you didn’t order garlic bread!” Rey raised her hands to her mouth in mock horror as he ended the call. “You’re a monster!”

 

“Sweetheart, I’ve been cockblocked out of the yin yang today - just let me have my pizza crust the way I like it,” he said in a low gravelly voice, ducking down the few inches to her height.

 

“Day isn’t over yet, sheriff,” she whispered back, hovering close to his lips before darting away. “I’ll pick it up.”

 

He reached to his belt to hand her his car keys, but they were gone. Looking back up, Rey was holding up the keys with a triumphant grin. “One day,” he vowed, “I’ll figure out how you do that.”

 

Rey drove the few blocks in the tumbling snow, and didn’t dilly dally getting inside after she parked. She knocked the slush off her boots as she entered the restaurant, greeted by scents of baking bread and tomato sauce, rich with oregano and garlic. A tall man, about her age with black hair and blue eyes, stood behind the counter and took her order of garlic bread. “Hi, Rey!” a bright voice called out and, looking round, Rey saw Rose waving from a booth she shared with Finn.

 

“Hey Peanut,” Finn said. “Come, have some of our pizza. You won’t have to wait then.”

 

“Thanks, Finn, but I already have one ordered,” she said, sliding into the seat across from Finn and Rose.

 

“Hey, where are you staying?” he asked. “I noticed your car isn’t at the motel any more.”

 

“Oh, Ben set me up with some temporary housing. So, did you just not feel like cooking tonight?” She swiftly changed the subject.

 

“Where?” he asked pointedly, but suddenly jumped in his seat - Rose seemed to have kicked him underneath the table.

 

“Actually, I’m glad I run into you, I think I might’ve left some old photos of Paige on the phone I gave you.”

 

Rey took the device out of her bag, opened the screen lock and passed it to Rose, who brushed her finger over the screen and turned the phone to show Rey a photo of the two sisters hugging each tightly. Finn rubbed a comforting hand across his wife’s shoulders and kissed her temple. Overhead, Elvis began crooning ‘Blue Christmas’, and they had no choice but to endure the lamenting warble; Rey had to concede that maybe Ben was right after all - Christmas music sucked.

 

“Do you mind if I send these to myself?” Rose asked, her voice a little thick. “I haven’t got some of these photos.”

 

“No, of course not,” Rey said as she squeezed Rose’s hand.

 

“What was all that at the mayor’s office?” Finn asked, as Rose’s phone made a series of magic wand sounds. “I heard Hux was taken away in handcuffs? Is Tallie okay?”

 

“I can’t really talk about it, Finn. I’m sorry.”

 

“But Tallie, is she alright? She’s been through so much,” Finn urged. “Was she injured or something?”

 

“Tallie’s in the hospital, but she’s okay,” Rey said in a whisper. “Just keep it to yourselves, okay?”

 

Finn nodded and took a sip from his glass of coke. “Yeah, of course,” he said offhandedly as Rose handed Rey back her phone.

 

“Hey, are you coming to our place for Christmas dinner?” she asked.

 

“Oh,” Rey said. “I haven’t thought about it, but yeah, of course,” she stammered. She didn’t know what she was going to tell Ben, not knowing whether he’d even want to be ‘outed’ as a couple yet or if he wanted to spend his Christmas with her, let alone Rose and Finn. Plus he and Finn didn’t seem to be on friendly terms. All these thoughts crossed her mind in seconds, before the guy behind the counter looked up from the notebook he was doodling on and called out, “Solo!” He peered around the restaurant, clearly looking for Ben.

 

“I’m still at work,” she stammered. “I just volunteered to get dinner,” Rey explained to her friends. “I’ll see you later okay? Got to get back to it.”

 

Rose and Finn waved goodbye and Finn took out his wallet and begrudgingly handed Rose five dollars.

 

“Thank you,” she cooed as she kissed his cheek.

 

“How did you know?” he asked.

 

“She can’t even pass up a stray, and he’s the biggest sad-eyed puppy dog there is,” she told him loftily.

 

 

 

Rey returned with a stack of hot pizza boxes, and Ben doled out two slices and a hunk of garlic bread each, delivering a plate to Domhnall before they tucked in.

 

While Rey had been out, Ben had found a white board and, once they’d finished eating, he dragged it into his office. “You know they only do this on the TV,” Rey said.

 

“I know, but we have several crimes that fit together and it’s not clear how. I just want a visual,” he said, shifting the board around so it wasn’t visible from the window. “And we’re taking this home with us because Doph would have a field day with it.”

 

He handed her a blue marker, taking a black one for himself, and scribbled in large neat block print the names of Poe, Kaydel and Colette, then Rey, Hux and Tallie’s name joined the list. In smaller print next to each name, he listed the offences each had endured, then balanced his ass on the edge of the desk as he sat back to look at the board thoughtfully.

 

Rey brushed the traces of flour from her hands before leaning across him to add something in a messy scrawl, and he frowned at her lopping, tight handwriting, then confiscated her pen.

 

“I’ll be handling the writing from now on,” he said firmly. “What were you attempting to write anyway?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes. “Han Solo and Luke Skywalker,” she enunciated as she pointed to each word with her index finger.

 

“Oh, Jesus Christ, Rey! You’re like a dog with a bone,” he huffed.

 

“Ben, surely you can’t deny there’s a pattern here! Your dad, your uncle, your deputy! This is clearly about you!” she cried.

 

“What about Arm and Tallie?” he asked.

 

A crease formed between Rey’s eyebrows. “But isn’t Arm..Domhnall your friend?”

 

“No, not really. He and Tallie are more like friendly work colleagues. Gwen, however...” he trailed off, suddenly grabbing his phone and hastily dialling her number.

 

“Hey.... Yeah I know it’s late... I don’t know there might be..... Just shut up for a minute, Gwen! Listen, we think all these crimes happening right now might be about hurting people who are close to me. Is Rory with you? ... Good. Do you think you could go stay with your mom for a while?..... Okay, good. okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Night.”

 

“They’re going to her mom’s place in the morning anyway. Rory will have the place on lock-down tonight,” he said, dialling again. “Mom? It’s Ben, call me as soon as you get this. Don’t wait until morning.” Hanging up, he muttered, “She probably forgotten to recharge her phone, as usual.”

 

He called the ‘Residence’ phone number, and spoke to his mother’s long-time second-in-charge, Ahmed Binks. “Your mother said she going to spend Christmas with her cousins in Varykino?” the man said in his perfect, though heavily accented, English.

 

“If she gets in touch, ask her to call me please,” he said, before ending the call. “Nice of her to let me know she was going out of the country,” he mumbled sarcastically.

 

“What do you want to do for Christmas?” Rey asked as she draped her arms around his neck.

 

“Honestly, spending it naked with you sounds perfect.”

 

 

After signing Arm/Domhnall over to the custody of two officers from Telluride, they drove home and, once they’d pulled into the garage, they hastily abandoned their snow-covered boots and coats. Stepping inside, they found the house still warm from the fire Rey had started earlier that afternoon, and Ben didn’t waste any time.

 

Reaching his arms around her waist from behind, he pulled her closer and pressed his hips against her as he unbuckled her belt. She gasped, feeling his breath warm against her cheek as his teeth nipped her earlobe, and tangled her hands in his luscious hair as her belt hit the floor. His hands were still cold from outside as they stole up the length of her torso, and Rey’s skin contracted under his chilly touch as he squeezed her breasts. She hadn’t had time to find her bra in her haste to get out the door earlier.

 

Ben relieved her of the top half of her clothing, carelessly tossing the garments aside as he focused his attention on brushing her hair away from the nape of her neck. “I should bend you over that kitchen counter and spank your backside bright pink for the shit you pulled back there,” he growled into her ear as he undid her jeans. He slipped his hand inside, snaking his fingers down the front of the flimsy fabric of her panties, which she had managed to put on before leaving. His fingers were now gloriously warm, and teased her with ghost-like touches for a few moments, before gliding in deeper and circling her clit with two fingers.

 

His other hand clasped her gently around the throat, guiding her head to rest against his collarbone. “Wet for me already, sweetheart?” he sighed, pressing his lips gently to her temple as he leisurely sank one thick finger inside her.

 

Rey’s mouth went slack as she groaned, grinding into the warm thick length pushing against her arse. Holy fuck! Cinnamon roll Ben was one thing, but dominant Ben was supercalifragilisticexpiali-fucking-docious! He added a second finger and pressed his palm over her clit.

 

“Bennnn,” she sighed, not liking the way she whined the end of his name but, seriously, his fingers were long and thick, and reached a spot that melted her like sun-warmed honey.

 

Ben loosened his light hold of her throat, running his hand down to pinch her nipple. “Should I spank you Rey? Or maybe I should get my handcuffs? You seemed to like putting those on me, as I recall.” His voice was deep and rough as he caressed the slight sting from the pinch away. “Talk to me, baby. Tell me what you want.”

 

Rey’s wits had completely deserted her, and her eyes flitted to the floor in front of the Christmas tree, where he’d started eating her out earlier. His stubble brushed against her ear as he rumbled, “Did you want me to keep licking your pretty little cunt? Is that want you want?”

 

He kissed the side of her mouth, withdrawing his hand from her jeans. She whined without shame, turning to watch as he brought his finger to his mouth and sucked it. “You taste good, Rey,” he said with a smirk on his face that would tempt an angel. He put his fingers against her lips. “Taste yourself,” he commanded.

 

Rey opened her mouth and drew on his fingers, slick as she slowly dragged her lips up and even more slowly down again, tasting the oddly rich and musky tang as she watched his eyes shutter from warm brown to an inky fathomless black. His full lips pursed as he swallowed, the Alpha male fell away and Ben, her sweet gentle giant asked, “Are you okay with this? Is it too much?”

 

Rey did what she always did. She attacked. She jumped up to wrap her legs around him, sending him stepping backwards in astonishment, and kissed him as though it was her last night on Earth. When she finally let him up for air, all he could do was rasp a gravelly, “Okay, you’re fine,” with the cheeks of her arse held firmly in his hands. He carried her to his bedroom as she plucked open the buttons of his shirt.

 

Dropping her onto the bed and standing between her thighs, he peeled her jeans off then paused and stared down at her, devouring her with his predatory gaze.

 

He sank to his knees and dragged her hips to the edge of the bed. Her fingers clenched the sheets as he lavished her with slow flicks of his tongue, and she arched and shook against him as he pinned her to the bed with his hands and relentless mouth. Rey glanced down to see his dark eyes burning as he watched her fall apart for him.

 

She bowed off the bed, gulping out a stream of curses, moans and Ben’s name, and he was nearly driven to distraction as he watched her, palming his groin in desperate need of friction. She came so hard, and he felt a dazed pride as he crawled up the bed, running his hand over her hip. Breathing hard, she whimpered and curled in on herself, and he asked gently if she was OK as he trailed kisses over her hip and back.

 

He stood and looked down at Rey, naked and blissful as she stretched out on his bed, marvelling at the sight and knowing he had caused it, he’d hold it close to his heart forever. Slowly unzipping his jeans and pushing them down, easing some of the tension on his cock, Ben wanted to give her as much time to look at him as she needed. He hadn’t missed the way her eyes had followed him over the previous week, lingering on his chest and arms, and he might’ve crossed his arms over his chest a few more times than strictly necessary because he’d enjoyed her shy glances.

 

She seemed to like what she saw. “Aren’t you worried someone could be watching us?” she asked, indicating the floor-to-ceiling windows jutting out from the main house, which offered no privacy but provided a spectacular vista of the snowy forest. Right now, though, neither of them were interested in the forest.

 

“I’d say they earned a show,” Ben rumbled as he stepped closer to the bed. The was snow tumbling down thick and fast, anyone out there would be an ice cube soon. “If someone’s watching us, the only stiff thing they’ll see would be their frozen body. There’s blinds if you’re feeling exposed,” he added.

 

“No, I love the snow,” Rey said, “although I’d rather be warmed up right now.” She reached out and took his hand, leading him down towards the bed next to her with a filthy look in her eye. They seemed to take turns dominating each other, and Ben took special pleasure in teasing her with nibbling kisses until her hand tightened its grip around him as she alternately brushed her lips then teeth over his Adam’s apple, stroking him slowly at the same time. He groaned as his hips nudged eagerly towards her, and she wrapped her long legs around him as he pulled her onto his lap.

 

Pushing himself against her warm flesh, his mouth met hers, and he shakily fumbled for a condom in the bedside table whilst continuing to kiss her. Rey took the packet from him and slid the condom onto his velvety length, before positioning herself over him and sinking down slowly.

 

Ben held her by the waist, thrusting up gently, panting against her mouth as she dropped her forehead to touch against his. He dusted her face and neck with kisses and his cock twitched as he glanced down at their joining. “Look, you’re taking me so well,” he breathed unsteadily, as their bodies finally became flush. He circled his hips in small motions, grinding her against him in the other direction. Shit, she felt so good. He started to pull out slowly, then thrust back in, then out...

 

Rey’s beautiful eyes closed and began to scrunch up as his movements grew more frantic, hands roaming freely over her body, charting patterns against her skin. He was so close and, as she tilted back, taking her weight on her hands, he felt her walls begin to grasp and constrict around him. His pace quickened as she gripped him tightly, digging her nails into his shoulders as she came, gasping against him as he thrust into her over and over. He lost it, and his hips strained and stuttered of their own accord as he rammed through her orgasm to claim his own.

 

She’d wrecked him, and he dropped back on the mattress like a felled tree, bringing her crashing down with him. He held her to him as his ability to think gradually returned and his breathing resumed its usual pace, savouring the comfort of Rey’s weight laying over his chest. His fingers moved delicately over her skin, tracing words he feared she wasn’t yet ready to hear but desperately wanted to tell her.

 

She seemed either unwilling or unable to move, which made him preen just a little bit, but eventually raised her drowsy head to examine him.

 

“Are you wondering how you ended up in bed with the dickhead you where cussing in the middle of the street a few weeks ago?” he asked.

 

“Pretty much,” she admitted. “It’s those eyes of yours.”

 

“What?”

 

Rey buried her face against his chest. “What about my eyes?” he said, pinching her butt lightly.

 

“Ouch! Stop that,” she told him, swatting his hand away.

 

“What about my eyes?”

 

“Well, I initially thought you were a smug jackass, but you had eyes like someone who’d suffered. I recognised it in you pretty much straight away, but you were supposed to be this brat prince that got handed everything. You didn’t appreciate the wonderful family you have.”

 

“Wonderful family?” he repeated incredulously and, in response, shifted underneath her, taking her hand and placing it over the scar on his side. “Luke did that,” he said gravely as Rey felt the knotted scar under her palm.

 

“No,” she disputed.

 

But Ben nodded solemnly. “He did,” he said. “Luke was mentally ill for awhile but he was able to keep it under control until he thought he saw darkness inside me and, late one night, he asked me to come to the shooting range with him, and shot me point blank,” Ben said, without anger. “The FBI didn’t want to tarnish the image of their golden boy, so it was hushed up, with a little help from his sister, the senator - my own mother. I was so angry with all of them, and I played right into Snoke’s hands. It was dad that came through for me in the end. He tried to talk sense to me, but I sent him away,” he said sadly, swallowing the bitter shame he felt.

 

“Could this be Snoke’s doing?” Rey asked.

 

“I don’t think so,” he said pensively. “This kind of thing, attacking my family, wouldn’t exactly be out of character for him, but he’s a vegetable these days - he had stroke after they locked him up. He can’t even control his bowels, let alone orchestrate something like this from inside a federal prison.”

 

“Can you think of anyone else?”

 

He shrugged. “Before this, it was pretty quiet here - speeding tickets and making sure tourists didn’t smoke pot on the street,” he snarked, rubbing a weary hand over his eyes.

 

“Is it bad form for me, as a deputy sheriff, to say that I’d like to try pot?”

 

Ben’s eyes few open in astonishment and he gave her a smirk. “If this is over by New Year’s, I’m buying a entire pan of Frank Yoda’s brownies and we’re going to get out of our fucking heads. Got it?”

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, I know I know I was hell bent on finishing this by Christmas Eve but it wasn’t ready but the good news is you get a extra chapter!

The sun hadn’t yet broken over the mountains surrounding Estoria. Snow was still falling softly outside, in the darkness of the wintry predawn.

 

Ben lay in his bed, next to Rey, both soundly asleep. As she rolled towards him, he automatically placed his hand on her thigh; a log shifted in the fireplace, cracking and popping but still neither woke.

 

The small black alarm clock on the bedside table gave a chirp and Ben opened his eyes to see a cloud of chestnut brown hair. He had a second’s moment of wondering what was happening, then remembered the night before.

 

The alarm rudely chirped again and he fumbled to turn it off before it woke Rey. She was hogging his quilt, hugging the corner of the inky blue linen in the same way a child cuddles a teddy bear, and was snoring again. He smirked as he gently kissed her shoulder. He’d worn her out, he thought as he stealthy crept from the bed to the bathroom. His back spasmed and he ground his teeth together to prevent a yelp of pain escaping.

 

Okay, he might’ve worn her out, but she’d broken him.

 

After making use of the bathroom, he didn’t bother to dress but decided to get the main living room fireplace started, and soon had a cheerful blaze going. While he built the fire he contemplated whether he should go straight back to bed and make love to Rey again, or make her breakfast before another round of sex.

 

Surely it was more romantic to make her food first? If only in a cave-manly fashion. He sighed - he needed a cup of coffee if thinking was to be required of him. He dropped a capsule bearing a skull and crossbones into the machine and placed a mug underneath the nozzle, and it soon sprung into action, filling the stillness of the kitchen with the sound of whirling and the dark perfume of Javanese coffee.

 

 

 

Soft light woke Rey, in a bed that was sadly bereft of Ben. She slid out and scooped up his discarded shirt from the floor, hurriedly pulling it over her head, feeling vulnerable in Ben’s beautiful, but somewhat exposed, bedroom. He seemed to have a private exhibitionist streak. It was one hell of an oxymoron, she mused, but, then again, he was a study in contradictions - built like a heavyweight boxer, with a poet’s face and a sardonic wit...

 

She found him in front of his coffee maker, waiting patiently like a good acolyte for it to grant him its benediction of caffeine. When she rounded the counter he turned, and she realised he was still stark naked. Yes, he did indeed seem to be an exhibitionist.

 

“Don’t look so worried, sweetie,” he smirked over the rim of his mug, “I’ll put on clothes before I cook you some bacon.”

 

Rey decided it was time to get some payback on Ben Solo, so she took him in hand. Literally. Rolling the sleeves of the borrowed shirt up several times so that she could use her hands, she waited for her moment – as soon as he tilted his head back to drink down the last of his coffee, she wrapped her hand firmly around his cock.

 

Ben coughed on the dregs of his drink. “Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing?” he spluttered. With a smirk of her own, she led him over to the tree, wordlessly dropping a cushion at his feet. Kneeling before him, Ben looked flustered.

 

“What wrong, sweetheart?” she teased, licking a slow stripe along the underside of his length before swirling her tongue over the head. “Nothing clever to say?”

 

Ben made a noise, half gasping moan and half laugh, as Rey circled her fingers around his base, stroking while she lavished attention on him with her lips and tongue. Her other hand wasn’t still, gliding over his thighs and the firm curves of his arse, exploring the taper and flare of his muscles. She discovered the groans he made when she lightly scraped her nails down the soft hairs of his abdomen, caressing the elegant groves that looped over his hip as they flowed downward, where Rey’s fingertips found the sensitive skin that made his legs tremble.

 

As she hollowed her cheeks, his hand reached to cradle her head and he brushed her hair back from her face to gather it tightly in his fist. She stopped, pulling away from him slightly, pressing a kiss to his tip. “Not like you to not have a witty remark at the ready, Ben. Are you feeling okay?” Ben was struggling to form words.

 

It was mean, but he had it coming with all the teasing he’d doled out on her. Rey doubled her efforts taking him as deep as she could, and humming throatily. Ben’s answering moan was filthy.

 

His face was a fusion of lust and tenderness as he trailed his thumb down her cheek, eyes dark and hooded as they followed the motion of her lips. With ragged breaths, he urged her on with gentle thrusts until he arched on the balls of his feet and, with a strangled cry, spilled into her throat. Rey gazed up at him, at his tousled black hair, at his lips, wet and red, as he whispered in a ruined voice...“Gary?”

 

Rey stared up at him in disbelief. Did he just say... ‘Gary’? She followed his gaze downward.

 

Ben was looking at his right calf, which was being enthusiastically humped by a French Bulldog, its tongue lolling out the side of its mouth and eyes rolled back in ecstasy.

 

“Gary?” a gravelly feminine voice called. “Where you get too... Aahhhhhgggg…! OH MY GOD, Benjamin!” Leia Organa-Solo shrieked and covered her eyes.

 

“Fuck! Mom! ... Gary! Get the fuck off me!” Ben roared at the dog while grabbing a pillow to shield his junk, and Rey scrambled to hide behind Ben. The air was rent with twin shouts of “What the fuck are you doing here! You’re supposed to be in fucking Italy!”, combined with, “Don’t yell at him! And don’t curse at me!”, accompanied by the excitable yelps of the dog.

 

Leia bellowed at her only child. “I wanted to surprise you for Christmas!”

 

“Well, mom, I’d say mission accomplished!” Ban bawled back.

 

Leia caught a peep of Rey hiding behind Ben’s huge frame, and went as still as a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. “Rey?” she exclaimed, clearly astonished. “Is that you?”

 

Rey was so mortified she couldn’t bring herself to answer, and just wanted the floor to open up and swallow her.

 

But Leia started laughing heartily, her whole body shaking as she guffawed until she had to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Oh, I wish Han was here to see this! He would have laughed for days!” she cackled.

 

“You’ll forgive me if I feel differently, mom,” Ben snarled as he backed the pair of them out the room.

 

Rey made a strange noise, a blending of a hiccup and laugh, her shoulders shaking as she buried her face between his shoulder blades. Ben turned to look at her in confusion - was she laughing? Or crying? He turned and carefully manoeuvred the cushion to cover his rear, wrapping his free arm around her, muttering, “It’s okay, you’re okay,” as he steered them towards his bedroom, still holding the cushion over his arse.

 

“I don’t know why you’re bothering!” Leia yelled after them. “I used to wipe that bottom, young man.”

 

Rey guffawed loudly, snorting and giggling, tears streaming down her cheeks. With his ears glowing an incandescent red, Ben desperately clutched his cushion, and the remaining shreds of his dignity, as he guided his sniggering girlfriend into his bedroom.

 

Ten minutes later, an embarrassed, and slightly less jovial, Rey crept out of Ben’s bedroom to get some clothes from her room, passing Leia making a pot of tea in the kitchen. They locked eyes.

 

“I’m not judging you,” Leia smiled. “It’s not the first time this room has seen some action.”

 

Rey was still too humiliated to speak, so she nodded and scampered down the hall, but not before hearing Leia call, “Oh, and Rey? Use lots of conditioner - there’s a massive knot on the back of your head!”

 

 

 

During breakfast, Leia attempted to defuse some of the awkwardness by telling the tale of a then-three year old Ben walking in on his parents’ lovemaking. He’d asked his father what was he doing, to which Han replied that mommy wasn’t feeling well and he was helping her to feel better. A precocious Ben had apparently said, ‘Oh, I thought you were having sex. Can I have a baby brother, please?’

 

Leia hooted with laughter. “He was a terrifying child sometimes!”

 

“Thank you, mom,” Ben grumbled, “you can break out the naked baby pictures of me later. Rey and I have to work today.”

 

“Rey works with you?” Leia asked, brows furrowed.

 

“There have been some developments...” Rey admitted and, between them, they explained the past month’s events. Ben hesitated to tell Leia about the less flattering aspects of Rey’s initial suspicions.

 

“Well you certainly had a change of heart,” she observed dryly.

 

Rey blushed beet red, and Ben made a low noise in his throat at his mother, a subtle warning to watch the snark. Naturally it had zero effect on Leia, who merely fixed him with wide brown eyes that belied the steel beneath. Even in her pyjamas, she held herself with a regal air. On their long drive from Las Vegas to Denver, Han had described his wife as having the eyes of a doe and balls of a samurai. He had a point.

 

“So, someone is basically targeting the people close to Ben,” she summarized. “Right then, if that’s all, I’m off. I’ve got some last-minute Christmas shopping to do.”

 

Ben tore a hand though his hair. “Mom, did you listen to word we just said?”

 

“Yes,” she replied.

 

“Well?”

 

“’Well’ what, Ben?” she shot back. “Has anyone been abducted off the street yet?”

 

“Kaydel was kidnapped, Poe had acid thrown into his face, Colette Connix was thrown out a window. This is a dangerous situation!”

 

“Ben, I’ve been in dangerous situations my entire life. I’ve dealt with crooked politicians, mob bosses and Harvey fucking Weinstein. If you think I’m cowering now, you’ve obviously never met me!”

 

 

 

After she made an angsty Ben wait for her to get ready, she insisted that she and Gary be dropped off in the town square. As she climbed out of the durango, Ben leaned over Rey and called out the car window, “Don’t go anywhere but the shops around the square, mom. And don’t go anywhere with anyone but Rey or Doph and me.”

 

She rolled her eyes at him. “It wasn’t that long ago I was telling you this, you know,” she told him flatly.

 

“The weather service is predicting a blizzard for this evening so don’t take all day!” he barked.

 

“You sound just like your father,” she remarked sounding sentimental.

 

Ben withdrew his head back into the car, looking stricken. Rey didn’t know what to say, so she quietly placed her hand over his - it looked so small resting across the back of his hand, and Ben held it tightly throughout the drive to the hospital.

 

Estoria’s hospital was not much bigger than the doctor’s clinic, and anyone in a serious condition had to be airlifted to a larger hospital. When Rey and Ben found Tallie, she was in the process of discharging herself.

 

Rey feared she’d have to go find a doctor, when Ben gently explained to her that there was a distinct possibility that the letter was a hoax.

 

“It was someone’s idea of a joke?” Tallie rasped, her throat was scraped raw from emotion. “Why, Ben? Why would someone do that?” she choked out.

 

“We’re not sure yet, Tallie, but we’re going to kept digging,” Rey said. “Did you see anyone around the office before you opened the package?”

 

She rubbed her temple. “No,” she mused. “I went into the back room to lock up, then found it when I returned to my desk. I thought it was an early Christmas gift from Armitage. Everything is pretty quiet at office at the end of the day.....” She paused for a moment before adding, in a small voice, “Is he alright?”

 

Ben pursed his wide mouth and swallowed, which Rey recognised as his ‘stalling for time’ expression. She remained silent - Ben was obviously weighing his options on what to say.

 

“He’s in custody in Telluride for now,” he said. “He’ll probably be out on bail soon, though. Tallie, if you want, we can put a protection order in place? So he can’t contact you or come near you until the paternity test comes back, which will probably take around six weeks.”

 

“Can I have a little time to think about it?”

 

“Yes, but with everything closing for Christmas, I wouldn’t leave it too long,” he told her.

 

 

 

“Well, that was a big fat nothing,” Ben sighed, his breath hanging white in the air as they walked out of hospital. Rey stepped out of the way of a woman rugged up in a heavy coat and hat, walking past in the opposite direction, then tried to keep up with Ben’s long, angry strides without looking like she was scuttling after him, right up to the point he stepped on black ice and his foot shot out from beneath him. Rey attempted to catch him, which was a stupid idea - he was practically twice her weight and seven inches taller.

 

He rolled so he didn’t crush her, but the pair of them still crashed into the snow piled up against the sidewalk, Ben face-planting straight into the powdery snow. Groaning from the impact, he pushed himself up, his face frosty and eyelashes thick with tiny white crystals, while Rey rose on her elbows with a pained wince. Moaning as he slowly righted himself, he helped her up, then brushed snow from the curls that had escaped her hat.

 

 

 

Watching the charming show from inside the hospital, Harri turned to Amilyn and said, “Well, it seems those two certainly took my advice to heart.” She smiled wistfully. “Do you remember when we were like that?”

 

“No,” Amilyn scoffed.

 

Harri teased. “You were so distracted, you locked your own keys in the trunk of your car and we had to call my dad to get them out!”

 

“Wasn’t a great way to meet the future in-laws, was it? Your dad thought I was the biggest numbskull,” Amilyn said wryly.

 

“You made up for it - you out-sassed both my brothers over Christmas lunch.”

 

“Like it was hard!” she crowed.

 

 

 

Ben and Rey returned to the to the sheriff’s office to find a frazzled Doph hanging up the phone. “Ben, can you call these people back,” he said, handing Ben a wad of yellow notes. “Half want to know why you arrested the mayor, the other half wants to why you hadn’t done it sooner. Enjoy!” The phone rang again and Doph sighed heavily, before picking up and saying in a pleasant voice, “Good morning. Estoria sheriff department.”

 

Ben stifled a groan, dragged himself into his office and slumped into his chair.

 

“I’m going get you a coffee,” Rey said from the doorway. “I want to talk to Finn and Rose anyway.” He picked up the phone and dialled the first number, mouthing ‘thank you’ as it picked up and, within seconds, Max San Tekka, the previous sheriff, proceeded to take him to task. A distracted Ben added ‘yes’ and ‘no’ where appropriate as the old man railed at him, but his attention was focused on Rey as she spoke to Doph, until she slipped out the front door and out of sight.

 

When the former sheriff was done ripping Ben a brand new orifice, he called Gwen.

 

“Ben! What the fuck is going on? I heard on the radio that there was a siege at the mayors office!”

 

“Hey, are you three alright? You’re going to your mom’s place?”

 

“Yes, we left first thing to get ahead of the storm. Ben, are Arm and Tallie alright?”

 

“They’re okay, but I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation,” Ben said. “I have a question. What do you think I should get Rey for Christmas?”

 

“What?”

 

“Baby Jesus’s birthday, Gwen,” he deadpanned. “You might’ve heard of it?”

 

“For fuck’s sake, Ben. You’re thirty five years old and you still need my advice on women?” she mocked.

 

“Yes,” he said helplessly.

 

“Well, I don’t know ...What are her interests?” she asked. “Maybe you could get her an all-rounder gift, like jewellery, perfume or tickets to a concert?”

 

“Big help, Gwen. Look, just be safe. Okay?”

 

“We will. Merry Christmas, Ben.”

 

“Merry Christmas,” he mumbled as he hung up.

 

“Did I just hear you ask Gwen for romantic advice?” Doph asked sardonically. “Have you forgotten how Rory and Gwen met?”

 

The corners of Ben’s mouth pulled back in a sharp wince. “Fuck, yeah. I had actually”

 

Doph looked at his boss with pity. “Ben, Rey doesn’t seem to really value things, she values other people and experience. Give her something to remember.”

 

He thought about for a few moments, and then he had it. Nodding, he said, “Thanks, Doph.”

 

Twenty minutes and three phone calls to antagonistic citizens later, Ben was happy to see Rey step back into the office, weighted down with his coffee, various bags of shopping and Gary the French Bulldog. Doph muttered disgruntedly about how his head would have been on a platter if he’d taken so long.

 

As Ben unburdened her of his coffee, a few bags and the dog, he asked, “What happened to you?”

 

“Your mother.” she replied. “She said she couldn’t take Gary into the grocery store. She also told me not to let you peek.” She swatted his hand to stop him from doing just that.

 

He ferried the shopping to his office and Rey closed the door behind her.

 

“Finn and Rose know about us.”

 

Ben cast his innocent office manager a murderous look. “No. No, it wasn’t Doph,” she said physically placing herself between the two men. “It was Rose. You should’ve hired her instead - she’d have found this arsehole in a weekend,” Rey said, sitting heavily in the seat in front of him.

 

“Doph knows too. Maybe we should just hand the case over to them,” he observed dryly, as Gary plonked himself down on Ben’s foot and looked up at him adoringly.

 

“Ohh look! He loves you,” she cooed.

 

Ben looked down at the dog with distaste, then looked back up to meet Rey’s eyes. “Sorry, Gary. I’m taken.”

 

 

 

After she’d battled through the task of shopping, Leia arranged to leave the groceries at the store until she could get Ben or Rey to ferry them home, then dropped into Nickel and Diner to see Finn and Rose, two of her charity’s ‘Resistance’ success stories. Finn rushed over and gave her a tight hug as soon as she entered.

 

Years ago, he’d had been forced to work as a drug courier for an organised crime gang, from an obscenely young age. He’d escaped Las Vegas with Rose, herself lost in the wake of her sister’s murder, but Leia beamed as she observed the couple now - running a thriving business and so obviously in love.

 

Her eyes moved from the happy couple to the cake counter, unsure which one would best serve her boy’s sweet tooth – she was spoiled for choice: cheesecakes, tarts and danishes... everything in the cabinet looked delicious.

 

“He’d love this,” the ever-so-helpful Rose said, while leaning over to carefully remove a tall, snowy white cake with a swirling halo of mahogany brown frosting at the top. “It’s Vietnamese coffee cake.”

 

  * 


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lovely @Colliderofhadron made an apology card for Gary because Hallmark doesn’t cover this situation. 😂


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I’m not dead! This was a incredible hard chapter to write so thank you dear readers for your support and patience. I hope you enjoy it.

 

“But this isn’t how crimes normally happen!”

 

Snap was busily stirring his lamb tagine as he mused out loud. “It’s all a bit theatrical don’t you think?” He extracted the spoon from the stew and tapped it noisily on the side of the crock pot. “I mean, look at Kaydel,” he continued, expounding his disapproval with a flourish of the spoon, and the gesture launched splashes of yellow across Doph’s immaculate counter top. “Someone stashed her in that cabin, but didn’t make any effort to keep her there, or even do anything to her!”

 

“Snap,” Doph grumbled, “dinner smells great, but please don’t mess up my kitchen while you’re making it.” He issued a series of tutting sounds as he wiped down the counter.

 

Snap rolled his eyes but persisted with his stream of thought while Doph went about gathering cutlery and glasses to set the table. He’d always processed information best by talking, his mother dryly describing it as ‘his ears having more sense then his brain’.

 

“It just feels fake, you know, like something you’d see in a straight-to-TV movie or a cheap paperback. I mean, an old woman is thrown out a window, the young lovers get parted, the guy’s blinded...”

 

Doph stopped setting the table, visibly paling. “Oh my god, I’m a fucking idiot!” he gasped. “The girl left to wander around woods... How did I not pick up on that?”

 

“Doph, honey, what are you talking about?” Snap asked, alarmed, as Doph abruptly stopped what he was doing and dug around his messenger bag with a frantic urgency. “I’m not the Mensa candidate in this relationship - slow down!” Snap seized Doph by the shoulders just as he was upending his bag in frustration, scattering its entire contents onto the kitchen floor.

 

“It’s Rapunzel!” Doph cried as he snatched his phone up, fumbling to unlock the keypad with shaking fingers.

 

“Stop stop!” Snap shouted. “What, like the kids movie?” He snatched the phone from Doph’s hands and held it out of reach. “Explain!”

 

Doph’s expression flip-flopped between panic and outrage. “The attack on Poe and Kaydel - it’s straight out of the fairytale!”

 

“I didn’t think Disney was that hardcore?” Snap said, in obvious disbelief.

 

“The original German fairytales are nightmare fuel, trust me...” Doph muttered. Snap could almost see the mental tumblers whirling and clicking into place as Doph’s brain sorted the information, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Doph announced, “Oh FUCK…!” so loudly, the neighbours must have heard. Doph was now gripping his hair in frustration and pacing the kitchen floor. “I’m SUCH an idiot! Tallie was raped while she was unconscious, that’s Sleeping Beauty!”

 

“So not exactly ‘true love’s first kiss’ then,” Snap said.

 

“No, you Ausländer kids got the PC versions. The original ones were meant to terrify kids into behaving themselves, like Omi did to me,” Doph exclaimed as he snatched the phone back.

 

“Your grandma is piece of work.”

 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Doph said darkly as he finally opened the screen. He suddenly stopped, and a fearful look passed over his face. “Rey wears a red coat with a hood...”

 

“What? Like Red Riding Hood? You’re saying Rey is Red Riding Hood.”

 

“Snap, what if Ben’s doing this? What if he’s the wolf?” Doph said, horrified.

 

Snap shook his head. “How do you get from ‘Rey’s coat is red’ to ‘Ben’s a murderer’? Didn’t the wolf end up dead in that story? It could be Rey - what if Ben’s the target? Try to get hold of him!”

 

After a few tense moments of holding the phone to his ear, horror crept into Doph’s voice as he said, “It’s going to his message bank. It’s never done that before.”

 

“We’re going up there.” Snap said firmly, snatching up his keys from the hallway table and throwing on his coat.

 

“Haven’t you noticed the blizzard outside?” Doph exclaimed, but Snap saw that he’d grabbed his coat anyway.

 

 

Finn unlocked the front door using Leila’s keys, handgun at the ready. Cautiously, he glanced around the corner before gesturing for Rose to follow and, with her weapon engaged, she boldly stepped into the room behind him. Leia looked as though she was already unconscious, laying motionless on the floor next to the dinner table; Rey, a few feet away from her, arm stretched out towards the kitchen as if she’d tried to reach Ben before her body gave up.

 

Finn spotted Ben Solo’s large sock-clad feet, just in view from behind the island counter. Finger twitching on the pistol’s trigger, he darted around the edge of the counter to see Ben’s prone form, hand shakily extending towards a cellphone on the floor, just beyond his fingertips’ reach.

 

“Damn it, Rose,” Finn growled angrily, swiftly snatching the phone up. “I told you, you didn’t give him enough! If he’s called 911 we’re done!”

 

“I gave him plenty,” Rose said harshly, glancing over at the older woman and crouching down beside Rey for a closer look. “Looks like Leila’s dying, and Rey’s not going to last much longer.” As she said this, Ben’s face twitched violently and he gave a gasping breath.

 

Finn looked up from the phone. “I take it back, Rose. You got the dose perfect!” He looked disdainfully down at the fallen sheriff. “Having trouble breathing, big guy? Curare poisoning will do that to you,” he sniped nastily.

 

Ben’s fingers twitched, but he was unable to speak. Appearing around the counter, Rose looked down at him with undisguised disgust as he tried vainly to form words. “I think you talked plenty already, you piece of shit,” she hissed, lifting her foot to stomp down on his head. But Finn stopped her.

 

“No!” he said urgently. “No, Rose babe, no - remember, it has to look like an accident. If he’s got unexplainable boot prints on his head, even these yahoos aren’t going to buy it. Go clear the table, get rid of the cake, please babe?” he said, kissing her temple gently, and she leant into the caress even though her face still was set in lines of rage. Finn turned his attention back to Ben.

 

“She gets a little worked up, you understand,” Finn snarled through clenched teeth. “When you ratted out Snoke, he had a whole load of convictions against him, and they all got thrown out because of your big fucking mouth, including Paige Tico’s murder,” he snarled. His anger boiled just thinking about the repercussions of that dipshit’s idiocy - the stupid cunt had caused Rose too much heartache and anguish to allow it to go unpunished. “That bastard walked free on a technicality, and that’s on you, man,” he said, shaking his head in bitter exasperation.

 

Rose spoke up from the table. “Help me move Leia.”

 

Stepping over Ben’s languid body, he hauled the frail woman up into his arms like a sack of grain and carried her into her bedroom, feeling a slight pang of regret that she had to be involved in all this, after everything she’d done for him. He returned alone.

 

“Your turn, Rey,” he said, his tone softening as he picked Rey up in a similar fashion. He carried her into the spare bedroom and lay her on the bed.

 

“I’m glad I got to have a little one-on-one time with you,” he drawled in a bland tone, looking into her green, shot with copper, eyes as they brimmed with angry tears.

 

“You’re wondering how could I betray you like this, huh?” he said as his eyes roamed over her, and his anger rose again. “Think about it, Rey... I begged you to leave with me!” he exclaimed, roughly wiping a tear from her motionless cheek. “We could’ve had a good life together, Rey, you and me, but you bolted to the academy. I guess you were just taking care of number one, huh? Didn’t mean anything to you that I was nearly died defending you from Snoke’s goons, did it?” he snarled. “You didn’t even wait around long enough to see if I was going to wake up from that induced coma!” His expression darkened as he glanced over his shoulder towards the door. “I better not let Rose hear me talking like this, she gets jealous sometimes,” Finn admitted, calming down, and he sounded so much like his former self Rey looked as though her heart ached with a very different kind of poison.

 

“Help me move this lump will you!” Rose’s voice filtered into the spare room as she called from the kitchen.

 

 

Rey was off the bed and across the room as quickly as possible, padding on quiet feet as she retrieved Ben’s pistol from the drawer, praying desperately to every deity in existence that their plan worked. Heading towards the door, she cautiously looked down the length of the hall, relieved to see Snap’s face, a pale moon in the darkness of Ben’s bedroom further along the corridor, as he peered cautiously around the doorway, towards the living room. Rose and Finn were busy pulling Ben by the arms across the floor.

 

“God he weights a ton,” Rose huffed.

 

A flurry of movement drew Rey’s angry gaze back to Snap. He held up two fingers, meaning, ‘is there just two of them’, and she nodded. He made another hand signal to ask her if they were armed. Finn and Rose were now halfway across the floor, still struggling to drag Ben’s, she hoped not literal, dead weight.

 

Rey struggled to keep calm as rising panic threatened to overwhelm her. One minute he’d been eating a piece of cake and the next he had collapsed to the floor. She hadn’t eaten her slice, not feeling like it after her dinner.

 

Thank god Leia had been too full after dinner to eat much of her slice. Any poison that rendered someone of Ben’s proportions immobile would have undoubtedly killed a woman of her age and size.

 

Jess was in Leila’s room, hopefully preventing Leia from shooting Finn and Rose on the spot. Snap was counting down on his fingers three... two... one.

 

He stepped out, bellowing, “Sheriff’s department!.. Don’t move... Don’t move…! Hands where I can see them. NOW!”

 

Similar shouts from Jess, Rey and Doph seemed to echo around the living room. Finn and Rose let go of Ben and his seemingly boneless body hit the floor with a dull, heavy thud.

 

Rey stepped towards Rose, her eyes flicking between Ben and the woman she thought was one of her closest friends, too shocked to process anything as her life fell apart in front of her. She wasn’t sure whether Ben was breathing, and an icy terror flooded her veins as she noticed the faint blue tinge ghosting the skin around his mouth. An unfriendly clasp suddenly gripped her hands, reefing the gun sideways as Rose tried to force the barrel downwards, towards . Jess and Snap were shouting for her to stop, and Finn’s voice was clear as it roared above the others “Don’t! Rey, please!...”

 

Rose seized Rey’s momentary hesitation, taking control of the weapon’s direction, and the gun fired. The sound ripped through the room like a clap of thunder as everyone stilled in horror.

 

Rey’s eyes snapped closed as she flinched. Too scared to open them again as she imagined Ben’s blood spattered across the floor. Desperately trying not to get pulled under the torrent of her living nightmare, she opened her eyes just a touch, in time to see Jess kick the back of Finn’s knees, sending him crashing onto the tile with a thump. She looked round as Snap grabbed Rose by the arms, pressing her to the wall and, with a series of metallic clicks, he closed the cuffs around her wrists.

 

Meanwhile, Rey had dropped to her knees, frantically checking Ben’s head and shoulders, placing her ear to his mouth and silently begging for a sign of life. After a terrifying moment of absolutely nothing, she found a pulse and felt a very small exhale.

 

Despite her world falling apart around her, her training kicked in. “Ben, hang on,” she whispered, tilting his head back, pinching his nose and placing her mouth firmly over his, blowing gently, twice. Doph was now kneeling at Ben’s other side, his hands replacing hers at the cartoid artery at his throat. “No pulse,” he said dully. “I’m starting chest compressions.”

 

“Oh shit!” Jess wailed, but Rey couldn’t afford to split her focus and tried not to look round. “Snap!” Jess called, “Finn’s been shot!” as she rolled Finn onto his back, smearing vivid scarlet across the kitchen tiles as blood spurted between her fingers. Rose was screaming his name repeatedly.

 

“Rey!” Doph shouted. “Ben needs us,” he added, more softly. Alarmed out of her dreamlike observation, Rey quickly blew two more breaths into Ben’s lungs and moved back to allow Doph access to hammer his chest. The room became a bizarre whirlwind of chaotic sound and motion, Rose’s sobs competing with Doph’s huffing and grunting as he counted comprehensions, Snap and Jess barking commands over their radios and the crackle and hiss of static as disembodied voices responded. Rey felt like a child again, helpless in the face of such trauma, resisting the childish impulse to clasp her hands over her ears and flee.

 

“Please stay with me,” Rose was begging. “Don’t leave me, Finn.”

 

Leia was on the floor at Ben’s feet, clutching at his trouser legs in a distress that was too painful to witness. “Come on Ben fight, please?” she implored in a breaking voice. “I can’t.... I just can’t lose you too... please, my baby, come back.”

 

“Ben, please.. stay with me,” Rey whispered against his motionless lips, before breathing into his mouth again.

 

Rose was now howling like wounded animal, and Snap was gripping her by the cuffs as she looked round at Finn, whose body looked unnaturally still as his eyes stared, unseeing. Blank and empty. Someone took Rey by the shoulders and dragged her up into a standing position, but her knees didn’t seem to want to co-operate. Strong hands held her up for a moment until she could steady herself, and she saw an EMT in a blue-green jacket covered in badges. “You did great,” he was saying, kindly. “We’ll take care of him now, okay?” He released her and turned his attention to his patient without delay.

 

“Rey?” Another voice, and she turned to see Doph approaching her. He took her hand and led her to Leia, and the two huddled around her as if their combined presence could keep her from breaking into a million tiny parts. There were two EMTs and, now she wasn’t huddled over Ben, she could see the other had started working on Finn just as two more walked into the scene of carnage, seemingly nonchalant towards the horrors in right front of them.

 

Rey realised Doph’s pants leg was dark with blood. “Doph!” she said in alarm. “Check your leg! Are you injured?” The EMT who was kneeling at Ben’s side, busy working the hand pump as he supplied his patient with precious air, looked over as Doph yanked his trouser leg up. There weren’t any marks on his skin. “It’s not mine, it must be Finn’s” he told the EMT, and Snap’s reply of “thank god” was audible even in the chaos.

 

Rose sobbed quietly in the corner and Rey had to force herself to stay where she was, that she couldn’t comfort her.

 

“Got a heartbeat,” one of the EMT’s said.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t lose your minds!!!!
> 
> There’s going to be an epilogue! I promise I won’t take so long writing this chapter. 
> 
> Lots of love and crispy bacon Birdy


	26. Chapter 26

March 2010

 

“Your boyfriend’s out there again.”

 

“How many times have I got to tell you? He’s not my boyfriend! Just a friend.”

 

Finn tensed as he stood in the dark alleyway outside the Niima Group Home. It never failed to hurt him whenever he overheard her saying that to someone, especially with such irritation. Each and every time, he’d feel the acidic burn in his chest, a familiar feeling of a great weight settling on him.

 

But, now, it was going to be different - this time he had money. They could start afresh, maybe run away to Florida or Hawaii. Somewhere nice and green, Rey’s favourite colour, and he knew her dearest wish was to swim in the ocean. He could picture them living in a house near the beach, they’d be so happy…

 

He just had to reason with her, make her see that this place, and everyone in it, was poison.

 

The money he’d taken would see them clear but, when he’d told her about it, she hadn’t understood. They’d walked to the 7-11 two blocks away from the group home, arguing about it the whole way.

 

“It’s still stealing, even if you’re stealing from them, Finn,” Rey hissed under her breath as a group of tourists walked by. “I know it’s totally unacceptable, but it’s probably smarter to steal from decent people - at least they’re not likely to hunt you down and kill you.”

 

“They don’t know who took it,” he grumbled indignantly around the straw of his grape slurpee.

 

Rey’s hazel eyes blazed with self-righteous fury. “You don’t know that!” she fumed. “And what about what I want, Finn? I want to fix things, make things better, not just help myself,” she said with all the lofty entitlement he expected from a nineteen year old white girl. While he loved her enthusiasm and dogged self-assurance that good would always prevail, sometimes she just sounded like the naive babe in the woods in a fairytale.

 

But Finn knew that fairytales were really stories designed to prep kids about fear. As a child, his favourite was Hansel and Gretel - now, they kept their heads about them, even when their rotten step-mother tried to ditch them in the forest, and they’d still managed to make it home safely in the end. When that evil witch tried to cannibalise them...well, she’d ended up as Texas brisket.

 

As for him, he didn’t want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to start a new life with Rey. How was that selfish?

 

A pricking sensation crept up his spine, interrupting his reverie; some instinct was telling him he was being watched. Careful not to turn his head, he stealthily glanced towards the 7-11’s window.

 

“What is it?” Rey asked, noting his sudden shift in demeanour.

 

“Don’t look...”

 

Naturally, Rey looked directly over his shoulder.

 

Finn knew they were in deep shit. “Run!” he growled, seizing her hand, and they shot out of the shop like a couple of fireworks. He pushed her in front of him as they tore through the poorly-lit back streets. “Go, Rey! Just run!”

 

Finn could hear the sounds of boots pounding hot at their heels. They rounded the corner of an old workshop, and he thought lightning had struck as bricks exploded just inches from his face, showering them both with debris.

 

“Fucking put that away! He wants him alive,” a male voice ordered over the chaos.

 

“What about the girl?” said another voice, also male.

 

Finn and Rey were confronted with a high metal fence topped with razor wire, but one of the bottom edges had been cut and Finn roughly shoved Rey though the gap before squeezing through himself. A length of heavy pipe lay on the ground and he gripped it tightly in both hands as he pressed himself flat against the wall. His pursuer passed, and he brought it crashing down, hard, on back of his head. Looking down at the body falling limply to the ground, he realised it was a familiar head he’d just cracked - it was Tom, someone he occasionally hung out with.

 

Finn’s body lurched, his numb fingers trembling as the pipe fell from his hands and hit the ground with a boisterous clatter. Blood, so dark it looked black, poured from Tom’s head. The world might have stopped spinning for a moment as his panic set in. Without having any idea what was going on, he watched in a detached confusion as the motionless body was ripped back through the fence.

 

“Fuck! he’s dead,” another familiar voice grunted.

 

Finn ran. His heart thundering in his ears, he tore in the direction Rey had fled, quickly finding her in a parking lot two blocks up the street.

 

“What happened, Finn?” she cried, gripping the front of his jacket almost hysterically.

 

“Rey, we got to keep moving,” he gasped. “Rey, come on!”

 

A guttural scream rent the air and Finn turned in its direction, recognising the long, pale face of the man charging towards him – it was Matt, He was a leader of a group of enforcers that none wanted to mess with and his expression was twisted with rage.

 

“Go!” Finn roared at Rey and they sprinted down the street towards downtown as fast as their feet would carry them. Matt was right behind them all the way.

 

Rey was slightly ahead of Finn when the headlights of the car flared brightly in his peripheral. He jumped, having some crazed last-second reaction, thinking maybe he could slide across its bonnet like the Dukes of Hazard. But it didn’t quite go as planned - he was hit hard mid-thigh and rolled over the car, his head colliding with the windshield.

 

The memories are hazy now, fractured disjointed images. He remembers flying through the air but not the impact of the ground. He remembers the vague impression of white and pale blue shapes surrounding him. And pain. Being able to move a bit, and the sharp, bright agony as blackness swallowed him again. A pasty, contorted face hovering over his. The smug voice of Matt, telling him that they weren’t done with him yet.

 

But not Rey. He doesn’t remember her visiting him. When he awoke, he asked the nurse if she’d been to see him.

 

“I’m sorry,” she replied. “I don’t know. Maybe you could ask the night shift nurses?” He did, but they didn’t know either. Rey was due to start at the Police Academy in a few days. She’d just gone, leaving him behind, and his bitterness bloomed a little more every day.

 

After three long days, a tear-stained letter arrived, begging his forgiveness, saying that she’d stayed as long as she could, and prattling on about her classes and her exiting new life. How sorry she was but, hey, her new life was beginning.

 

It wasn’t a balm.

 

He was discharged a week later, and Matt and the others scooped him up straight from the hospital’s front door.

 

“Hey, Finn,” the long lanky Brit practically crooned. “We’d love a chat. In you pop,” he said casually, holding the car door open. Sliding across the back seat until he was wedged between to thugs, Finn realised he was out of options. Matt climbed into the front seat, slamming the car door shut and turning to point a 9mm at Finn’s chest. “Tickety boo then? Excellent.” He could feel the barrel of another handgun grating into his ribs and ground his teeth again the sickening wave of pain.

 

“Purely a precaution, Finn dear, you understand,” he said, his quirky accent at odds with the cold lack of empathy in his green eyes.

 

He sighed as he continued. “You’ve been a such a disappointment, Finn,” he said as his high forehead wrinkled, jiggling his upswept hairdo. “But it’s you lucky day! The boss decided you’re going to be of more use than just pig feed.”

 

‘Use’.

 

Finn learned how to clean up crime decently, he was now a fixer. With the body of Tom and the pipe with his fingerprints and DNA held over his head, they owned his ass.

 

At first, he disposed of corpses. He came to know the taste of greasy human ashes from burning bodies, he’d cut bodies and seal them in barrels of acid. He would stand under scalding showers at the end of the day, washing away blood, brains, piss and shit, but the smell of death still seemed to cling to him. And, all the while, Rey’s letters continued to arrive. He only answered half of them, sometimes writing cheerful things which felt more than he could bear but, if he didn’t reply, she might visit him; he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide what he’d been doing from her.

 

After a year, he graduated to killer, shooting a stuttering Hispanic guy in the head as the man begged for his life. One night, he received a phone call from one of Matt’s inner circle - the jerkoff called them his ‘knights’, when a man called Daniel Trooper told him a girl had been murdered, and that it had been ugly.

 

Finn opened the door to the shitty apartment, finding nothing amiss in the combined living room/kitchen. He tilted his head towards a noise coming from the bedroom, the sound of weeping. A woman was kneeling on the floor, crying as she held the hand of a dead woman.

 

Paige Tico’s face had once been beautiful, but was now a bloody, swollen mess: dark purple marks ringed her throat, her battered body had been stripped and now lay motionless on torn, blooded sheets.

 

The woman on the floor rocked with muffled wailing, she hadn’t even noticed he was there, and he drew the gun up to the back of her head, level with her bouncy little ponytail. In a sudden series of movements, she seized the gun and he found himself looking straight into its barrel.

 

“You’d be doing me a favour,” he breathed, surprised at how accepting he felt about his own death.

 

“What?” she spat. He looked at the face glaring at him - she was pretty, skin like honey, cheeks flushed pink and wet with tears. Her brown eyes were sharp and angry.

 

“I said, you’d be doing me a favour. It’s okay,” he said.

 

“Did you kill my sister?” she snarled.

 

“No” he told her. “I was sent to clean up the scene.”

 

There must have been something in his eyes, or maybe it was his baby face, or whatever, but he knew she believed him. But she still kept the gun pointed at his head.

 

“Were you going to kill me?” she asked.

 

“I was going to, but I’m not going to now,” he said gently. Her brown eyes glinted dangerously, dark and soft. Fire under dark water.

 

“Why?” The gun trembled in her hands. His eyes trailed over her face, her quivering lips, the smeared bubblegum pink lipstick. She was all things sweet and he was dying for a taste.

 

She was looking at him too. “Do you know who did this?”

 

“Yes,” he said with conviction, “and I want to get out of this life.” They stared at each other for a moment. “How did you get my gun off me anyway?” he asked. “Where did you learn that?”

 

“I’m a black belt,” she said simply. “Third dan.”

 

“Really? Like Bruce Lee and all that? Badass!” he said admiringly, allowing a hint of a smile. “I’m Finn. What’s your name?”

 

“Rose...”

 

“Rose,” he repeated, savouring the feel of it on his lips. “Rose, I’ll help you – I can help you get revenge on these fucks. If I’m killing anyone from now on, I’m going do it for the right reasons.”

 

Tears silently leaked from Rose’s eyes, rolling down her cheeks slowly as she looked up at him. “We’ve got to go to the cops,” she said resolutely.

 

“I know a cop, she’ll help you.”

 

Rey put them in touch with a detective, Finn provided solid evidence and, months later, Daniel Trooper was tried and convicted. Until Ben Solo happened. Finn watched the news with growing rage, blinking in disbelief at the sickening images of Paige’s killer walking out of the Las Vegas courthouse flaunting his stupid laughing face at the cameras. Case overturned, freed because of double jeopardy law. The bastard was free.

 

“We do it your way,” Rose told him breathlessly as she rode his cock, linking hands with him. They could only rely on each other.

 

Thrusting up into her tight wet pussy, he grunted, “I’ll do it.” Gasping under the pressure of her fluttering walls, he swore, “I’ll kill them for you, baby girl. I’ll kill for you.” His arms clasped around her waist, pulling her down as he pushed up.

 

Two days later, Matt and his cronies started dying. Rose garrotted Daniel herself.

 

But Ben Solo had left town. “How do we find him?” Rose asked.

 

“His family,” Finn said. “He has have some family.”

 

“He doesn’t deserve any,” Rose mumbled bitterly. “Or friends.”

 

Finn looked for Ben Solo online and, turning to Rose, held up his phone to show an article on Leia Organa and Resistance building in Denver, which included a photo of Leia, Han and their then eight year old son, taken on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol Building. “I have an idea,” he grimly.

 

 

 

January 2018

 

Snap Wexley was sitting in Ben’s chair.

 

There was no reason he shouldn’t - after all, it was his office now, but Rey’s heart still clenched at the sight. All of Ben’s things had gone, having been packed in a cardboard box which sat at one corner of her desk.

 

Snap was going to be an excellent Sheriff; his easygoing nature and self-assurance made him a natural in the role and Rey was looking forward to working as his deputy. The office felt a little bereft without Doph’s Christmas tree, but he was apparently planning an epic valentine day’s date for next month. It wasn’t even officially February yet and he was already drinking coffee out of a heart-shaped mug. The only thing Doph seemed to like more than Christmas was being shacked up with his teddy bear of a boyfriend, apparently.

 

Poe had finally returned home yesterday, with the complete loss of sight in one eye and significant scarring on his right cheek, which would require more skin grafts in the near future. He and Kaydel were staying with Kes until things became a little more settled, but Kaydel’s father and stepfather were in the process of selling their house in Maryland so they could move back to Colorado. Kaydel had confided that Kenny was so excited to be a step-granddad, he’d sent a huge bouquet of gender-neutral baby clothes arranged in a glorious array of rose shapes, to her at the hospital. She’d lost several toes to frostbite, but her baby was okay. It was good to know that someone had been left unscathed by Rose and Finn’s actions.

 

They were currently planning their wedding, with Kes hinting heavily that they should tie the knot before their baby arrives, but also with Anthony and Kenny rebuffing Kes’s suggestion, stating that it was Kaydel’s wedding and she should have all the bells and whistles she wanted. Kaydel had told Gwen and Rey she hoped the baby was a girl - she was in need of reinforcements.

 

Tallie was also becoming a friend. The DNA tests had come back, proving conclusively that Armitage Hux, or Domnhall Kelly as he was now called, wasn’t the twins biological father. He’d cried on hearing Erin and Maeve call him ‘dada’ in their gleeful little voices, on the day Tallie had finally allowed him to see them again. At Mara-Jade’s suggestion, the twins’ DNA had been uploaded to the GEDmatch database, the same genealogical directory that had helped find the Golden State Killer. Snap and Rey were both hopeful that it would eventually provide a lead, and Rey had added her own DNA because... who knew? Maybe some of the mysteries of her own past would be unlocked as well.

 

She’d started having sessions via Skype with a therapist in Colorado Springs - Snap had insisted on it before allowing her to return to work. It was still early days yet, but it had already started helping. She had more than just the weight of guilt and betrayal left by recent events - she also needed to come to terms with her parents abandoning her, as well as Snoke’s cruelty, and she mused that it was all probably long overdue.

 

“Rey!” Snap called, rousing her from her contemplation. “I’ve just had a call about horse loose on Chandrila Road.”

 

She stifled a sigh. It was right on five o’clock \- so much for a quick escape. She slipped into her jacket as Snap shrugged into his, and he gave Doph a quick kiss goodbye with the admonishment not to start cooking dinner, saying that he’d do it when he got home.

 

“Are you trying to get the boyfriend of the year award or something?” she teased as they got into the Durango.

 

“I am definitely in the running,” he snarked, as he backed out of the parking spot. “Just between you and me, cooking isn’t one of Doph’s many talents.” Rey snorted softly as Snap steered the car towards the northern end of town.

 

“Chandrila Road...” she mumbled, checking the maps app on her new phone to confirm her suspicions. “That’s near Ade Peavey’s place. It might be his horse.”

 

Snap made a non-committal noise, keeping his eyes on the road as they passed the high school and a dozen or so homes, the yards getting larger the farther they drove. The sun was dipping closer to the mountains, flooding the valley with the last rays of golden light.

 

“Keep an eye out for the horse, okay?” Snap said, with a tinge of excitement in his voice. Rey scanned the road until her eyes found what they were looking for, on a little side lane.

 

She saw a black horse, harnessed to a bright red, two-person sleigh and, holding the horse by the bridle, was a certain tall, broad-shouldered man.

 

“What the..?” she started, but Snap cut her off as he pulled the car over.

 

“No ‘F’ bombs, princess. You’ll ruin this fluffy moment,” Snap grinned. “It’s not every day I get to play fairy godfather! Go on, get out of my truck - your carriage awaits.”

 

Rey didn’t need to be told twice, and practically leapt from the cab. Covering her mouth with a gloved hand, she approached a smirking Ben Solo.

 

“It’s a little late, but Merry Christmas, Rey,” he said softly, but he didn’t remain serious for long. “This is your present. Sorry I couldn’t give it to you on the day because, you know, I was on life support,” he snarked, ever the smartass.

 

Rey narrowed her eyes at him in mock annoyance. “That’s the third worst excuse for not getting a Christmas gift I’ve ever heard, Ben Solo,” she sniped back, but dragged him down towards her for a kiss anyway.

 

“We’re going to take a ride to Ade’s place, about five miles,” he said as he held out a hand to help her into the sleigh. Snap tooted the horn as he drove away and they both waved. “There’s a thermos of hot chocolate in the basket,” he said, arranging a cozy blanket around them both. He slapped the reins lightly against the flanks of the horses and they jerked into a steady trot up the snowy lane.

 

She snuggled in his side, before kissing him long and hard. “This is amazing! You’re the boyfriend of the year,” she purred against his lips.

 

“I don’t really want to be your boyfriend...” he murmured back. Rey pulled away from him, confused and unsure. Had she heard him right?

 

But Ben pulled her back to him with a gloved hand, and the sensation of the kid soft leather fingers cupping her jawline made the fine hairs on her neck raise in a fission of pleasure. “Fiancé sounds much better,” he rumbled.

 

She blinked lost for words.

 

“We can have the longest engagement in Colorado’s history if you want, Rey. Just marry me one day, please?”

 

This was insane! They’d only just got together - it was way too soon, and she’d be completely bonkers to marry a man she barely knew, but...

 

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

 

She didn’t say how she knew it but, looking into Ben’s large whiskey-coloured eyes, she knew deep in her bones it was the right thing to do.

 

“Yeah?” he spluttered, looking completely gobsmacked. “You really want to get married?” Without taking his eyes off her, he produced a little velvet box from his pocket and passed it to her. She smiled incredulously as she took it, opening the lid with shaking hands. Her eyes widened when the saw the ring, a pale blue sapphire set in two twisted bands of white gold, one smooth, the other set with diamonds.

 

“If you don’t like you can pick another one,” Ben blurted nervously. “You’re going to wear it, so you should have some say in what type you want. I want you to wear for a very long time,” he admitted, almost bashfully.

 

“It’s perfect,” Rey said thickly. It really was.

 

 

 

The unholy alliance that was Doph and Gwen insisted on having a valentine’s day engagement party. With only two weeks until her baby was due, no one was willing to argue with Gwen, not even Leia. Which was a first.

 

Ben’s living room was festooned with heart-shaped pink and red balloons, roses and a mirror ball reflecting the lights bathing the room in a hot pink glow, while a stereo system pumped an eighties sound track loud enough to stir the sleepy peaks of Estoria. Doph and Gwen should have been permanently separated, for the good of the town.

 

She passed Ben a ludicrously pink drink. “What the fuck is this?” he grimaced, holding the drink up as he shouted to be heard over the strains of Hall and Oats, singing ‘you make my dreams come true.’

 

“It’s called a ‘pink pussy’,” Gwen said with a sly grin. “Rey’s had four of them. Drink up! By what she’s been telling me, you already know your way around one.”

 

“She told you that?!” he shrieked, nearly dropping the pink abomination.

 

“Nope... but you just did!” she cackled.

 

Rolling his eyes, he drank it in one go. It turned out to be a combination of a double shot of vodka, one of triple sec, watermelon pucker and lemon and lime soda. He wheezed as it burned his throat on the way down. “You gave her four of these?”

 

“I gave her one, Leia gave the other three.” Gwen said shrugging.

 

He looked across at his fiancée, who was now enthusiastically bopping around to ‘Uptown Girl’ with Jess in way that suggested she’d done some pregaming before the party had even started.

 

Gwen leant into press a sisterly kiss to his cheek. “You know you’re fucking insane for proposing to a woman you barely know, right?” she said while she fiddled with her phone.

 

He just smiled softly.

 

“You such a romantic putz,” she sighed ruefully. Rey was making grabby hands and pouting from the dance floor as ‘Uptown Girl’ suddenly changed to George Michael warbling ‘wake me up before you go go’.

 

“I hate you,” he mouthed over his shoulder to Gwen as he stalked over to his tipsy fiancée.

 

“You love my ass!” she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to be heard over the cheesy music.

 

“There’s plenty of it to love!” he shouted back.

 

He could hear her roaring with laughter behind him as Rey jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck and circled his hips with her legs, while loudly, and not that tunefully, singing along with the lyrics. “I’m not planning on going Solo.”

 

He smiled against her. “Yes, you are,” he rumbled, before kissing her until they were both out of breath.

 

“Yeah, I am,” she admitted with a hiccup.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s terribly late but Merry Christmas! And thanks again for reading my story. I have other stories in the works so hopefully I’ll be back soon, soonish I’m taking a small break for now. So thanks again for all the lovely comments and support.

**Author's Note:**

> Many many thanks to @ColliderOfHadron Beta goddess and all around lovely person who whips my crap writing into what you’ve just read. She writes too so go read her stuff, cause it’s great!
> 
> Kudos make me type faster!


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